6. Loss of Appetite: The Silent Cost of Noma’s Assault
While many symptoms of Noma are visually arresting and immediately alarming, loss of appetite tends to be subtler but no less insidious. It sneaks in, almost casually, masked by the overtly horrifying symptoms, like the tip of an iceberg whose mass lies submerged in deadly waters.
Why would a primarily oral disease affect one’s appetite? It’s a reasonable question. You see, the loss of appetite isn’t as simple as not feeling like eating. It’s a complex network of physiological and psychological stressors unleashed by Noma. For starters, the presence of mouth ulcers and tissue decay make eating a painful ordeal.
But it goes deeper. The body, in its struggle against Noma, expends an enormous amount of energy. This heightened metabolic activity often leads to nutritional deficiencies. Ironically, just when the body needs fuel the most, the desire to eat vanishes. It’s as if Noma cripples its host not just physically but also through this physiological paradox. (6)
