APA Dictionary of Psychology

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 developmental disorder. 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.