What is the term for the wasting away of a body organ or tissue?

Atrophy refers specifically to the reduction in size or wasting away of a body organ or tissue. This can occur due to a variety of factors, including disuse, aging, reduced blood flow, malnutrition, or hormonal changes. When cells don't receive the appropriate stimulation or nutrients, they may decrease in size and number, leading to a decline in function of the affected organ or tissue.

In contrast, necrosis is the death of cells in a living organism due to injury or disease, which is distinct from atrophy that involves a gradual decrease in tissue size. Hypertrophy describes the enlargement of an organ or tissue due to an increase in the size of its cells, often as a result of increased workload or stimulation. Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in a regulated manner, often as part of normal cellular turnover or in response to cellular damage, rather than a wasting away that characterizes atrophy.