Biomaterial Database

At mother's mercy: the nightmare of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. 1995

T G Lesaca

Medical College of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, USA.

Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a form of child abuse in which a parent simulates or produces illness in a child for the purpose of engaging in a supportive relationship with a physician or other health care provider. The child suffers from the parent's actions and is subjected to significant morbidity due to extensive medical diagnostic procedures ordered by the unsuspecting physician. The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of this disorder with respect to presentation, pathogenesis, and recognition.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D009035	Mothers	Female parents, human or animal.	Mothers' Clubs,Club, Mothers',Clubs, Mothers',Mother,Mother Clubs,Mother's Clubs,Mothers Clubs,Mothers' Club
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D003967	Diarrhea	An increased liquidity or decreased consistency of FECES, such as running stool. Fecal consistency is related to the ratio of water-holding capacity of insoluble solids to total water, rather than the amount of water present. Diarrhea is not hyperdefecation or increased fecal weight.	Diarrheas
D006470	Hemorrhage	Bleeding or escape of blood from a vessel.	Bleeding,Hemorrhages
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D016735	Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy	A phenomenon in which symptoms of a disease are fabricated by an individual other than the patient causing unnecessary, and often painful, physical examinations and treatments. This syndrome is considered a form of CHILD ABUSE, since another individual, usually a parent, is the source of the fabrication of symptoms and presents the child for medical care.