Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Childhood Diseases Week Growing Pains
14 February 2014

Growing Pains

The first years of a child's life have a huge impact in shaping the adult they will eventually become. If consistently deprived of nutritious food, infants' growth is stunted, and they will likely remain smaller and underweight for the rest of their lives. To make matters worse, these conditions allow a parasite called Giardia lamblia (shown in green surrounded by the red walls of the intestines) to thrive. In low income countries, the vast majority of children carry these unwelcome passengers in their gut. And while these infections often don't show any symptoms, when combined with malnutrition they can have far-reaching effects. Underfed mice carrying the parasite are not only smaller but also suffer disruption to their gut lining and an unbalanced immune system. This suggests that getting rid of G. lamblia, as well as providing better nutrition may be vital to allow children to reach their full potential.

Written by Jan Piotrowski

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.