PATHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Atrophy is defined as a decrease in the size of a tissue or organ due to cellular shrinkage; the decrease in cell size is caused by the loss of organelles, cytoplasm and proteins.

Detailed explanation-2: -In a nutshell, atrophy is the reduction in size of a cell, organ, or tissue, after it has attained its normal, matured growth. This happens either through decrease in cell number or decrease in cell size.

Detailed explanation-3: -Causes of atrophy include mutations (which can destroy the gene to build up the organ), poor nourishment, poor circulation, loss of hormonal support, loss of nerve supply to the target organ, excessive amount of apoptosis of cells, and disuse or lack of exercise or disease intrinsic to the tissue itself.