Vitamin A Deficiency

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Vitamin A 

Vitamin A is a family of compounds that play an important role in vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division, and cell differentiation. Vitamin A sometimes goes by the name retinol. It is essential for supporting your vision, skin, healthy bone growth and your immune system. As an antioxidant vitamin A helps skin to repair, stay moist, and produce the enzymes that stabilise the production of collagen.

Good Sources of Vitamin A

Beta-carotene is a precursor for vitamin A. The body needs to convert it to retinol or vitamin A for use. The body stores both retinol and beta-carotene in the liver.
Beta-carotene is found naturally in mostly orange and dark green plant foods, such as carrots, spinach, broccoli, sweet potatoes, mangos, kale, dried apricots, butternut squash, pumpkin, full fat dairy products, tomato juice, and peppers.

Vitamin A Deficiency

Vitamin A deficiency can result from inadequate intake, fat malabsorption, or liver disorders.

Causes

Primary vitamin A deficiency

• This is caused by prolonged dietary deficiency, particularly where rice is the staple food (doesn't contain carotene).
• Vitamin A deficiency occurs with protein-energy malnutrition (marasmus or kwashiorkor) mainly because of dietary deficiency (but vitamin A storage and transport are also impaired).

Secondary vitamin A deficiency

• This occurs where there are problems in converting carotene to vitamin A, or reduced absorption, storage, or transport of vitamin A.
• This occurs in coeliac disease, tropical sprue, giardiasis, cystic fibrosis, other pancreatic disease, cirrhosis, duodenal bypass surgery and bile duct obstruction.

Symptoms and Signs

• Impaired dark adaptation of the eyes, which can lead to night blindness
• Grayish spots on eye lining (Bitot spots)
• Involves drying (xerosis) and thickening of the conjunctivae and corneas.
• Keratinization of the skin and of the mucous membranes in the respiratory, GI, and urinary tracts can occur. 
• Drying, scaling, and follicular thickening of the skin and respiratory infections can result. 
• Immunity is generally impaired.
• Repeated infection
• Anemia
• Growth retardation and infections among children.

Diagnosis

Serum retinol levels, clinical evaluation, and response to vitamin A

Treatment

Mild to moderate deficiencies: Supplementation and/or with dietary changes. 
Severe deficiencies: Monitored therapeutic doses of vitamin A required.