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Jan 16, 2020 · The main symptom of vitamin A deficiency is vision loss and blindness. Vision loss often begins as a problem adjusting to seeing in the dark, or night blindness. People with night blindness do not see well in the dark. But they can see normally if enough light is present.
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People also ask
How does vitamin A deficiency affect vision?
Is night blindness a symptom of vitamin A deficiency?
What is vitamin A deficiency?
Jan 16, 2020 · Vitamin A deficiency is diagnosed by an eye exam and by reviewing medical history. A blood test can measure the amount of vitamin A in the blood. But because vitamin A deficiency is most common in areas with limited medical access, the diagnosis is often made informally.
Jun 18, 2024 · Introduction. Nutritional deficiencies have been recognized as significant contributors to various systemic and ocular disorders. Among these deficiencies, vitamin A plays a crucial role in maintaining ocular health.
- Overview
- What are the symptoms?
- What causes xerophthalmia?
- Where is vitamin A found?
- How common is this condition?
- Who’s at risk for xerophthalmia?
- What should you expect when you see your doctor?
- How is xerophthalmia treated?
- What can you expect?
What is xerophthalmia?
Xerophthalmia is a progressive eye disease caused by vitamin A deficiency. Lack of vitamin A can dry out your tear ducts and eyes. Xerophthalmia can develop into night blindness or more serious damage to your cornea, the outer layer of your eye. This damage may take the form of white spots on your eyes and ulcers on your corneas. Xerophthalmia usually can be reversed with vitamin A therapy.
The symptoms of xerophthalmia start out mild, and then get progressively worse if a vitamin A deficiency isn’t treated. If you have this condition, the thin lining of your eyelid and eyeball, called the conjunctiva, dries out, thickens, and begins to wrinkle. That drying out and wrinkling causes various symptoms.
Night blindness is an early symptom. This is an inability to see in dim light. The World Health Organization and public health workers have used number of cases of night blindness as a gauge of vitamin A deficiency in a population.
Xerophthalmia is caused by a lack of vitamin A. Your body doesn’t produce vitamin A on its own. Instead, you have to get vitamin A from the foods you eat. Vitamin A is essential for vision because it’s an element of the protein that absorbs light in the receptors in your retina.
Vitamin A is also important for the function and maintenance of your heart, lungs, kidneys, and other organs.
Vitamin A is also known as retinol. It’s a fat-soluble substance found in animal products like:
•fish liver
•poultry
•meat
•dairy products
•eggs
Xerophthalmia is rare in the United States: There are only isolated clinical reports of the disease, according to Dr. Alfred Sommer, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an international expert on vitamin A deficiency.
Vitamin A deficiency and xerophthalmia are a major public health problem in the developing world, affecting millions of women and children. It’s a leading cause of blindness in children. A 2002 study found that worldwide:
•about 4.4 million preschool children had xerophthalmia
•more than 6 million women develop night blindness during pregnancy annually
The major risk for xerophthalmia is poverty and lack of adequate diet, especially a lack of animal products. Infants and children are at greater risk. The younger the child, the more severe the effects of vitamin A deficiency.
Children require a lot of vitamin A in order to grow. Vitamin A deficiency also affects the ability to survive common childhood infections and diseases, such as diarrhea, measles, and respiratory infections.
Other risk factors affect a much smaller number of people in the United States and other countries. The following are risk factors because they affect a person’s ability to absorb vitamin A:
•alcoholism
•cystic fibrosis
•diseases such as celiac disease that limit the absorption of nutrients
Your doctor will do a physical examination and ask you questions about your symptoms and diet.
If you have night blindness, your doctor may start you on vitamin A therapy, even before doing blood tests.
Vitamin A supplementation is the immediate treatment for xerophthalmia. Vitamin A can be taken by mouth or injected. The dose varies according to your age and general health condition.
In more advanced cases where the cornea is damaged, you may receive antibiotics to prevent secondary infections. You may need to keep your eye covered to protect it until the lesion heals.
Vitamin A supplements can quickly reverse symptoms of xerophthalmia and help protect children from dying of other childhood diseases.
Vitamin A supplements are given preventively in areas where xerophthalmia is a known problem. This is a low-cost way to prevent human suffering and deaths. A 2007 study estimated that 500 million vitamin A capsules are distributed annually, at a relatively low cost of 10 cents per capsule.
Nutrition education can be important in helping people make the best use of their food resources. Fortifying commercial foods with vitamin A also helps reduce vitamin A deficiency. Some foods that may be fortified include:
•oils and fats
Xerophthalmia improves quickly with vitamin A supplements. In very advanced cases, scarring may remain and impair vision. In the worst cases, permanent blindness may occur.
Vitamin A deficiency and xerophthalmia remain a significant public health problem in the developing world and in areas of war or natural disasters. The availability and affordability of an adequate diet, including animal products and green leafy vegetables, is key.
If you or your child are at risk for vitamin A deficiency, talk to your doctor about taking vitamin A supplements. Also, vary your diet as much as possible to include animal products, and vegetables and fruits with beta carotene.
Read next: Preventing eye problems »
- Marjorie Hecht
- 6
May 3, 2024 · Bitot’s spots are a common ocular symptom of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and xerophthalmia, a progressive disease. If left untreated, xerophthalmia can damage the cornea or cause blindness, especially in children.
Jun 1, 2022 · Foamy Bitot spots are tell-tale signs of vitamin A deficiency. Clinical diagnosis. The patient’s serum vitamin A levels were within normal limits, as is often the case with VAD, thus requiring clinical diagnosis, Dr. Ten Hulzen explained.
Apr 18, 2024 · Night blindness, a condition characterized by difficulty seeing in low light or darkness, is often linked to vitamin A deficiency. This article explores the connection between night blindness and vitamin A deficiency, discussing the symptoms, causes, and treatment options for this condition.
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