What are the consequences of vitamin A deficiency?
Serious consequences of a vitamin deficiency occur extremely rarely in industrialized countries due to the good food supply and only in the case of constantly increased consumption of the respective vitamin or a chronically unbalanced diet. Initially, the consequences and symptoms are less severe and indicate a corresponding undersupply. These typically include susceptibility to infection, night blindness, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, cracked and poorly healing skin and mucous membranes and dry eyes. If the vitamin A deficiency is not corrected, possible long-term consequences are growth disorders (particularly affecting the bones) in children and adolescents and an increased risk of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the blood vessels), tumors and kidney stones.
How to diagnose vitamin A deficiency
It is practically impossible to diagnose a vitamin deficiency from the blood: vitamin A is initially only present in the blood bound to proteins because it is fat-soluble and therefore water-repellent. However, the majority of all vitamins are stored in the liver cells and are therefore not detectable in the blood. An exception to this is the oversupply of a vitamin (hypervitaminosis), in which the excess, which cannot be absorbed by the liver, circulates in the blood. In such cases, the vitamin A-binding protein can be detected in the blood serum. A vitamin A deficiency is therefore best diagnosed by the presence of the various symptoms that go with it.
How can a vitamin A deficiency be remedied?
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