deficiency disease

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. any illness associated with an insufficient supply of one or more essential dietary constituents.

---

deficiency disease British  

noun

1. med any condition, such as pellagra, beriberi, or scurvy, produced by a lack of vitamins or other essential substances Compare avitaminosis

2. botany any disease caused by lack of essential minerals

---

Etymology

Origin of deficiency disease

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

It is a deficiency disease in which red blood cells are sickle-shaped, increasing oxygen perfusion into the blood.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

It is a deficiency disease in which red blood cells are sickle-shaped, reducing oxygen perfusion into the blood.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

David Salamone was a longtime patient at the National Institutes of Health, where he became the subject of a study on immune deficiency disease.

From Washington Post • Sep. 15, 2018

Is all variation from "normal behavior" a deficiency disease to be corrected by a pill or a combination of pills?

From Time Magazine Archive

GREEN, H. H., AND VILJOEN, P. R.: Contribution to the study of deficiency disease in special reference to the Lamziekte problem in South Africa. 3rd and 4th Reports Div.

From The Vitamine Manual by Eddy, Walter H.