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lipodystrophy

n. any disorder of lipid metabolism. Kinds of lipodystrophy include intestinal lipodystrophy, in which a malabsorption of fats from the digestive tract may be associated with lesions in the central nervous system (as in Whipple’s disease), and progressive lipodystrophy, marked by a symmetrical loss of subcutaneous fat deposits and abnormal deposits of fat around the kidney, heart, and abdominal cavity. No consistent neurological abnormalities are associated with the latter form of lipodystrophy, but nearly 20% of the patients in one study showed signs of intellectual disability. The cause of progressive lipodystrophy is unknown. Lipodystrophy is also associated with diabetes mellitus in a form marked by loss of subcutaneous fat in areas injected with insulin; this is known as lipotrophic diabetes mellitus or insulin lipodystrophy. Manifestations of lipodystrophy are also often found in people with HIV. See also partial lipodystrophy; total lipodystrophy.

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Psychology term of the day

January 30th 2025

trauma management therapy

trauma management therapy

a treatment program intended to alleviate the anxiety and fear, manage the anger, and enhance the interpersonal functioning of combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is a sequential multicomponent approach that combines (a) education, in which the client is informed about the symptom chronicity, skill deficits, and extreme social maladjustment associated with PTSD; (b) exposure therapy, in which the client reexperiences—in imagination or through virtual reality—his or her specific traumatic event during individually administered weekly sessions; (c) programmed practice, in which the client performs exposure-related homework assigned by the therapist; and (d) socioemotional rehabilitation, in which the client participates in structured, group-administered social and emotional skills training sessions. [developed in 1996 by clinical psychologists B. Christopher Frueh (1963–  ), Samuel M. Turner (1944–2005), Deborah C. Beidel, and Robert F. Mirabella and health administrator and political scientist Walter J. Jones]