Hypoproteinemia: Definition, Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

Hypoproteinaemia is a disease caused by severely low blood protein levels in your body. This is called protein deficiency.

The primary cause of protein deficiency is the poor intake of protein through diet. Other causes include diseases of the liver, kidney, and intestines, the use of some medicines, and the undergoing of some surgeries.

In the below sections, we have detailed these hypoproteinaemia causes along with mentioning in brief about hypoproteinaemia symptoms, and how to get the correct treatment of hypoproteinaemia.

Hypoproteinaemia Definition: What is Hypoproteinaemia?

Protein is one of the most essential nutrients that your body needs in large amounts. Likewise, whether it is the strength of your muscles and bones or the production of haemoglobin (the carrier of oxygen across your body through the blood), protein controls a wide number of bodily processes.

When your body has low blood protein levels to the point where it cannot meet its daily protein requirement, resulting in protein deficiency symptoms, the condition is called hypoproteinaemia.

The general protein deficiency symptoms include—

Delayed growth
Loss of muscle mass
Weaker immunity
Problems of heart and lungs

Hypoproteinaemia symptoms can vary from person to person based on the severity of your situation. ⁴

Hypoproteinaemia Causes

The main hypoproteinaemia causes include malnutrition, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), liver and kidney damage, and specific types of surgeries.

Here is how each of these hypoproteinaemia causes lead to severe protein deficiency symptoms:

1. Insufficient Intake of Dietary Protein and Malnutrition

Malnutrition and the lack of enough protein in the daily diet is one of the leading causes of hypoproteinaemia that affect many populations worldwide. Likewise, since your dietary choices play a crucial role in your overall health, to avoid protein deficiency symptoms, it is important to include protein-rich foods and have a well-balanced diet.

2. Kidney Problems

The kidneys are responsible for filtering your blood and eliminating the toxic substances from your body. They also help in the proper absorption of proteins and other important nutrients into your blood. Hence, kidney problems like proteinuria that result in low blood protein levels can also be one of the hypoproteinaemia causes.

In proteinuria, due to kidney damage, excess protein goes into your urine instead of your blood. As a result, since most of the protein is present in your urine, it gets flushed out of your body with it. This leads to protein loss, ultimately causing protein deficiency.

3. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

In IBD, the inflammation of your bowel, as well as your intestines, leads to difficulties in the absorption of protein. Additionally, IBD patients are also recommended restrictive diets. Plus, IBD can cause—

Malnutrition
Malabsorption
Diarrhoea
Maldigestion

All of these factors make your body lose blood and protein. Thus, they have the potential to cause hypoproteinaemia and result in protein deficiency symptoms. ⁵

4. Celiac Disease

In celiac disease, your body starts reacting negatively against gluten, a type of protein found in foods like wheat and barley. Consuming gluten when you have celiac disease can eventually damage your small intestine. Thus, it decreases its capacity to absorb nutrients from your diet. This is called malabsorption. ⁶

Malabsorption makes celiac disease one of the prominent hypoproteinaemia causes.

5. Liver Disorders

60% of the total protein found in your blood comprises albumin, a distinct type of protein. Albumin is responsible for

Carrying important substances like vitamins and hormones to different parts of your body through blood
Preventing the leakage of fluids from your blood vessels

Albumin is produced by your liver. Hence, when you have a liver disorder, the damage to your liver makes it incapable of producing enough albumin. As a result, these low albumin levels cause hypoproteinaemia.

6. Other Medical Conditions and Surgery

Certain other medical conditions and specific surgeries can also lead to protein deficiency symptoms and cause hypoproteinaemia.

Examples include—

Crohn’s disease (a type of IBD)
Diseases involving parasites
Pancreatic disorders
Intestinal defects
Weight loss surgery
Surgeries that involve the removal of some portion from your intestines

These causes of protein deficiency result in malabsorption, which ultimately produces hypoproteinaemia symptoms.

Hypoproteinaemia Symptoms

Commonly observed hypoproteinaemia symptoms (signs of low blood protein levels) include increased hunger, oedema, hair, skin, and nail problems, weakness, fatigue, and frequent occurrence, as well as slow healing of infections.

1. Increase In Appetite

If you are feeling more hungry than usual, then it could be one of the signs of protein deficiency. This happens because protein controls several functions, like maintaining your appetite and keeping a check on your overall calorie intake.

So, when there are low blood protein levels in your body, your body tries to get back its protein reserves by making you feel hungrier. As a result, you start craving more carbohydrate- and fat-rich foods.

When this overconsumption continues for a long duration, it can lead to obesity and unintentional weight gain, which are both risk factors for many diseases.

Hence, an increase in appetite is one of the earliest and most important protein deficiency symptoms. ⁷

2. Problems With Skin, Hair and Nails

Another sign of protein deficiency is changes in the texture and quality of your hair, nails, and skin.

This is because these body parts are made from several protein types, including—

So, when your body does not have enough protein, it cannot produce these substances in good quantities. Ultimately, you start noticing protein deficiency symptoms like—

3. Weakness and Fatigue

Not having enough energy in your body and feeling too tired are significant signs of protein deficiency common to people of old age.

This is because there are several research studies that have proven that low dietary protein intake for even a week can lead to loss of muscle mass. It ultimately results in weakness and fatigue in older individuals, especially those above 55 years of age.

Apart from this, other protein deficiency symptoms that accompany body weakness and fatigue include—

4. Hypoproteinaemia and Oedema

As mentioned above, albumin, an important protein type, prevents fluid buildup in your tissues, skin, and other internal organs. Low albumin levels cause your skin to swell up and look puffy. This swelling is one of the most prominent signs of protein deficiency, and it is medically termed oedema.

Moreover, while hypoproteinaemia and oedema have a direct relationship, oedema is also one of the most significant protein deficiency symptoms of kwashiorkor (another type of protein deficiency disorder).

5. Frequent Occurrence of Infections

Protein supports your white blood cells in producing antibodies. Antibodies are essential for fighting against infections and keeping your immune system strong. A lack of protein in your body makes the production of antibodies slower, resulting in weaker immunity.

Hence, if you have been catching a lot of infections lately or if you have problems healing infections, then it could be one of the protein deficiency symptoms.

Hypoproteinaemia Diagnosis

If you are persistently observing the signs of protein deficiency, then it is a good idea to take a hypoproteinaemia diagnosis.

Getting yourself diagnosed at the right time is important so that you can get treatment for hypoproteinaemia on time. ⁹

Treatment for Hypoproteinaemia

The treatments for hypoproteinaemia and severe protein deficiency treatment are almost the same because they both involve increasing the dietary protein intake. Hence, the first and most efficient way to treat hypoproteinaemia is to include more protein sources in your day-to-day diet.

Apart from this, the treatment for hypoproteinaemia varies depending on your individual needs and the main causes of your protein deficiency symptoms.

Prevention of Hypoproteinaemia

The amount of dietary protein that your body needs every day depends on your body weight. It is recommended that for every 1 kg of body weight, you must have 0.8 grams of protein. Hence, to find out how much protein you must eat daily, you have to simply multiply your body weight by 0.8.

For example, if a person weighs 50 kg, then 50 kg x 0.8g = 40 grams. In this case, the recommended daily protein intake for the person would be 40 grams.

Therefore, the best way to prevent signs of protein deficiency is to make sure that you eat enough protein-rich food sources daily.

Right Way to Consume Protein to Uplift Low Blood Protein Levels

The right way to consume protein when you are undergoing protein deficiency treatment is to have a diet that contains a balance of protein from both animals and plants. Here are some good examples:

1. Plant Proteins

Here is a list of plant-based proteins that you can have in the treatment for hypoproteinaemia if you are a vegetarian—

2. Animal Proteins

Here are some good animal sources of protein that you can include in your treatment for hypoproteinaemia—

Identifying Key Risk Factors and Vulnerable Populations

The risk of developing hypoproteinaemia symptoms or severe protein deficiency symptoms increases in the following cases:

The populations that are most affected by the causes of protein deficiency include—

Conclusion

All in all, sufficient dietary intake of protein is crucial to avoid protein deficiency symptoms in all age groups. You can easily achieve this by consuming protein-rich food items such as eggs, fish, dairy products, beans, and legumes.

Apart from this, it is equally important to watch out for the signs of protein deficiency in order to get the best treatment for hypoproteinaemia according to your needs.