top 10 vitamin deficiencies

7/27/2019 Top 10 Vitamin Deficiencies

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Top 10 Vitamin

DeficienciesKATE MULCAHYMARCH 16, 2012Check out our new companion site:http://knowledgenuts.com

Until quite recently, the role vitamins play in good health was largely unknown.

Explorers in the renaissance found that on ships where they ate salted meat

and grain, a huge variety of diseases appeared that were cured by eating a

more varied diet. People began to suspect the existence of vitamins, tiny

substances which were needed to sustain good health. There have been

several Nobel Prizes given to scientists who correctly identified specific

vitamins, as they allowed thousands of people to avoid death from

deficiencies simply by eating a certain food. Today vitamin deficiencies still

occur in developing countries or in those who have restrictive diets, but

centuries ago people lived in fear of these deadly deficiencies whose causes

were unknown and seemed to affect people at random.

10Beriberi
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Beriberi is a disease whose symptoms include weight loss, body weakness

and pain, brain damage, irregular heart rate, heart failure, and death if left

untreated. It was endemic in Asia for a long time. Strangely, Beriberi occurred

almost exclusively amongst the richer members of society, and was unknownin the poor. Although recognized to be a nutritional deficiency, doctors were

baffled as to why wealthy people with plentiful and clean food would fall victim

to beriberi whereas the poor with limited food did not. As it turned out, beriberi

is a deficiency of vitamin B1 (thiamine) which is found in cereal grain husks.

The rich had been washing their rice so well that they removed the husk with

its vitamin B1, whereas the poor did not wash their food as well and

consumed enough vitamin B1. White bread can also potentially cause

beriberi, so today developed countries add extra vitamin B1 to it. Beriberi is

now found mostly in alcoholics whose bodies become poor at absorbing

vitamin B1.

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Pellagra

After the discovery and exploration of the Americas, corn was grown by

settlers and all around the world. The natives who had originally grown it

would treat it with lime, but the taste was unpleasant to the Europeans and

they omitted this part of the preparation. As corn was increasingly farmed, the

disease pellagra began to spread. Symptoms included diarrhea, dermatitis,

dementia, and finally death. Many people believed that corn was in some way

toxic, but could not explain the lack of pellagra among native New Worlders.

After thousands of deaths, it was discovered that corn, although high in

carbohydrates, lacked vitamin B3 (niacin). Farmers would sometimes eat little

other than corn and succumb to the deficiency. The Native Americans had

actually been using lime as a way of adding vitamin B3. Today it is well known

that by eating a variety of foods vitamin B3 is freely obtained and pellagra is

easily treated.

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Biotin Deficiency

Biotin deficiency is caused by a lack of vitamin B7 (biotin). It causes rashes,

hair loss, anaemia, and mental conditions including hallucinations,

drowsiness, and depression. Vitamin B7 itself is found in meat, liver, milk,

peanuts, and some vegetables. Its deficiency is quite rare; however, there

was a brief spike in the number of cases when it became popular for

bodybuilders to consume raw eggs. One of the proteins found in raw egg

white binds vitamin B7 and makes it difficult for the body to use, leading to a

deficiency. Cooking egg whites makes this protein inactive. Mild biotin

deficiency is also found is about half of all pregnant women due to a higher

use of vitamin B7 in their bodies, and supplements are recommended for suchwomen by the World Health Organisation.

7Scurvy


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Scurvy was first noted among people who spent a long time at sea. Boats

would only carry non-perishable foods such as salted meats and dried grain,

so sailors ate few if any fruits or vegetables. Scurvy causes lethargy, skin

spots, bleeding gums, loss of teeth, fever, and death. Ancient sea-faring

civilizations would cure it with various herbs. In more recent times, these

ancient cures were not used consistently and their value was not realized. In

the 18th century horse meat and citrus fruits were found to cure scurvy, and

British sailors consumed limes to the extent that they were nicknamed

limeys. It is now known that these foods contain vitamin C, and in modern

times scurvy is rarely fatal as it once consistently was. Today, there are

groups who advocate vitamin C megadoses of hundreds of times the

recommended daily requirement; although any positive effects have not been

firmly demonstrated and harmful overdoses can occur.

6Rickets


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Rickets causes muscles and bones to become soft, which can cause

permanent deformities in children. It is most common in children and infants

who have a poor diet or who are housebound, but is nowadays relatively rare

in developed countries. Breast-fed babies are at higher risk if they or theirmothers do not take in enough sunlight, and baby formula is now designed to

prevent this. Rickets is caused by a lack of vitamin D or of calcium. Vitamin D

is required for calcium to be properly absorbed into bones to strengthen them.

Adults rarely develop rickets because their bones are not growing and do not

need much calcium. Vitamin D itself is obtained from many foods but the body

can only use it if it has been converted into its active form via sunlight. In

recent years there has been a slight increase in children with rickets possibly

due to too many of them staying indoors.

5Ariboflavinosis


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This condition is present mostly in people who suffer from malnutrition and in

alcoholics. It causes distinctive bright pink tongues, although other symptoms

are cracked lips, throat swelling, bloodshot eyes, and low red blood cell count.

Ultimately it can cause comas and death. It is caused by a lack of vitamin B2

(riboflavin), but easily treated by eating foods rich in vitamin B2, includingmeat, eggs, milk, mushrooms, and leafy green vegetables. Vitamin B2 is also

used as artificial orange color in foods. It is absorbed through the liver, so

alcoholics might eat enough of it but be unable to use it. True deficiencies are

rare, but about 10% of people in developed countries live in a state of slight

deficiency, thought to be from a diet of highly processed foods. Constant slight

deficiencies can increase the risk of mild health problems.

4Vitamin K deficiency


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This deficiency affects nearly half of all newborn infants worldwide. In severe

cases it causes uncontrolled bleeding and underdeveloped faces and bones.

Many hospitals give newborns vitamin K injections to avoid the more severe

symptoms. Unfortunately babies born outside hospitals are statistically at a

much higher risk of serious deficiencies. Vitamin K is found chiefly in leafy

green vegetables, although human gut bacteria help produce it in humans.

Newborns have not yet developed gut bacteria which is why they are so prone

to deficiencies. Other than newborns, vitamin K deficiency is found in

alcoholics, bulimics, strict dieters, and people with various severe diseases

such as cystic fibrosis. Adults who bruise or bleed easily sometimes have

vitamin K deficiency which itself may be indicative of one of these more

serious disorders.

3Hypocobalaminemia

This mouthful of a disease was first noticed as a symptom of an autoimmune

disease. It causes gradual deterioration of the spinal cord and very gradual


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brain deterioration, resulting in sensory or motor deficiencies. Mental

disorders from the gradual brain damage begin as fatigue, irritability,

depression, or bad memory. As the disease progresses over several years,

psychosis and mania can appear. This damage is irreversible and is caused

by a deficiency in vitamin B12. Fortunately, this vitamin is easily found in

meat, dairy, and eggs. Vitamin B12 is stored in the liver and can last for years

before deficiency sets in. Hypocobalaminemia is most common in developing

countries amongst people who eat few animal products. The most at-risk

groups in developed countries are vegans, as no plant produces enough B12

for a human diet. Children need much more B12 than adults because they are

growing, so infants who are only breast-fed can become deficient and suffer

permanent brain damage if their mother is only slightly deficient. Supplements

are recommended for people of all diet types as an easy way to avoid the

devastation of this disease.

2Paraesthesia


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Vitamin B5 is found in nearly every food, and deficiencies are found in people

who have been starving, volunteers of particular medical studies, and people

on diets restricted to a very small number of foods. A deficiency in vitamin B5

causes chronic paraesthesia. Paraesthesia is most familiar to us as the

numbing sensation we feel as pins and needles or a limb falling asleep. This

kind of paraesthesia is perfectly normal; however, in vitamin B5 deficiencies it

occurs constantly. Malnourished prisoners of war sometimes reported

prickling and burning sensations in their hands and feet which is now thought

to have been paraesthesia. As this is nearly unseen today, most vitamin

supplements do not include B5.

1Night Blindness


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The Ancient Egyptians and Greeks wrote about night blindness, or

nyctalopia. This affliction makes it impossible to see in dim light, and

sufferers become completely blind when night falls. The Egyptians found that

they could cure sufferers by feeding them liver, which contains high levels of

vitamin A, the deficiency of which causes night blindness. Vitamin Adeficiency still affects one third of all children on Earth under the age of five,

resulting in over half a million deaths each year. Most high dose vitamins

obtain their vitamin A from liver, which is dangerous at high levels and can

cause various health complications. In the past, starving Antarctic explorers

would eat their dogs for food but became sick when they ate too much liver.

Vitamin A found in carrots is a slightly different molecule to that found in liver

and is not toxic in high doses, although it can cause skin to turn yellow. During

the Second World War, the Allies announced that they ate carrots to see well,

although carrots only help maintain normal vision and do not improve it

beyond this. Actually they were lying to hide their development of radar.

top 10 vitamin deficiencies

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