Vitamin A Deficiency: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments

Vitamin A deficiency contributes to being a major cause on a worldwide scale for preventable blindness in children. 

If you, too, are anxious about diseases caused by deficiency of vitamin A, fret not! This particular article would act as a perfect guide and let you know all the vital facts about the deficiency of this vitamin.

Read through!

In simple terms, the deficiency of the fat-soluble vitamin A refers to the inadequate presence of this vitamin in the body. The deficiency of this vitamin which is responsible for several bodily functions like a strong immune system, reproduction, good skin health and good vision, is found to be rarely present in developed countries but usually found in developing nations.

Vitamin A deficiency turns out to be a public health issue in over half of all the nations, and this especially includes the ones in South-East Asia and Africa.

This section would prove to be a comprehensive guide for an individual fretting as to what are the symptoms of vitamin A deficiency. The deficiency of this vitamin can be defined either subclinically or clinically, and a number of symptoms are associated with it.

Illustrated below are some of the vitamin A deficiency symptoms:

Skin Dryness

This vitamin is vital when it comes to the repair and formation of skin cells. It is also responsible for helping the body fight inflammation occurring as a result of some specific skin problems. Inadequate inputs of vitamin A might be the reason for the occurrence of eczema and other skin issues.

Eczema is a skin condition that can be blamed for the cause of dry, inflamed and itchy skin. Many clinical studies have shown that a prescription medicine having vitamin A activity named alitretinoin is effective when it comes to treating this skin condition.

In a particular 12 week study, it was noticed that individuals suffering from chronic eczema who were administered alitretinoin in 10 to 40 mg dosage per day experienced a reduction in their symptoms by up to 53%.

Regarding skin dryness, one must keep in mind that it can be caused due to various reasons, but a chronic deficiency of vitamin A might be a reason.

Dryness in Eyes

Eye issues are known to be one of the most well-known vitamin A deficiency symptoms. In severe scenarios, inadequate inputs of this vitamin can result in total blindness or dying corneas characterised by marks known as Bitot’s spots.

The inability to produce tears or dry eyes forms one of the first symptoms of vitamin A deficiency. Young children belonging to Africa, India and Southeast Asia having a lack of vitamin A in their diet are at substantial risk for the development of dryness in the eyes. This condition can improve with vitamin A supplementation.

A specific study determined that high vitamin A doses caused a lowering of the prevalence of eye dryness among children and infants by 63% who received supplements for a period of 16 months.

Night Blindness

Extreme deficiency of vitamin A can result in night blindness. Several observational studies reported that night blindness highly prevailed in developing countries. Owing to this problem’s extent, health professionals have worked towards improving the levels of vitamin A in individuals who are at risk of night blindness.

In a study, women having night blindness were administered vitamin A in the form of supplements or food, and both these forms of vitamin A led to an improvement in their condition. This was evident by the fact that the ability of the women in adapting to darkness increased by more than 50% over the six month treatment duration.

Infertility and Difficulty Conceiving

Vitamin A is required for reproduction in the case of both women and men. It is also necessary for the proper development of babies.

The lack of vitamin A might be one of the reasons why a woman faces difficulty achieving pregnancy. Infertility in both women and men is one of the signs of vitamin A deficiency.

Other research suggested that due to the high levels of oxidative stress in the bodies of infertile men, they might have a higher requirement of antioxidants. For that case, vitamin A can again prove to be one of the nutrients providing a source of antioxidants in the body.

Miscarriages are also one of the effects of vitamin A deficiency. A study was conducted by analysing the levels of various nutrients in the blood of women who suffered recurrent miscarriages. Those women showed low vitamin A levels in their blood.

Stunted Growth

Children not getting sufficient vitamin A might experience delayed growth.

A number of studies conducted on children from developing countries showed that vitamin A supplements could enhance growth. It was also found that other nutrients combined along with vitamin A as supplements showed a higher impact on growth.

Poor Healing of Wounds

Low levels of vitamin A might be the reason for poor healing of wounds after a surgery or injury. The reason behind it is that this vitamin promotes the generation of a vital healthy skin component named collagen.

According to research results, both topical and oral vitamin A can help to strengthen the skin. Aged men who considered treating their wounds with topical vitamin A experienced a reduction of 50% in wound size compared to those who didn’t use them.

Acne and Breakouts

As vitamin A helps fight inflammation and is also responsible for the promotion of skin development, it might help in the prevention or treating acne.

Chest and Throat Infections

Frequent chest and throat infections might be a vitamin A deficiency disorder. Though the results from research are mixed, there has been evidence that vitamin A supplements might provide help with infections related to the respiratory tract.

In addition to these, there are three other disorders caused due to vitamin A deficiency.  

These include the following:

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

A major reason for significant loss of vision among older adults, AMD or age-related macular degeneration’s origin is generally unknown. But it is postulated that the cumulative effect of oxidative stress plays a role.

If that is the case, carotenoid containing supplements like beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin which have antioxidant functions, may prove useful for preventing this health condition. Particularly, zeaxanthin and lutein get accumulated in the retina, a tissue in the eye that gets damaged by AMD.

Cancer

A number of studies have examined the link between cancer and vitamin A owing to the role which vitamin A plays in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation. However, there is a lack of clarity in the relationship between cancer risk and serum vitamin A levels or vitamin A supplementation.

Measles

It is seen that measles is a major reason for mortality and morbidity in children from developing nations. Severe measles is known to be caused due to vitamin A deficiency.

The cause of vitamin A deficiency is getting an inadequate amount of vitamin A in the body.  Usually, dietary deficiency is the reason behind it, but there are chances that disorders interfering with the storage, transport or absorption of vitamin A might also cause a deficiency.

Pregnant women, infants, children and breastfeeding mothers are among those at a high risk of the deficiency of this vitamin.

In addition to these, a secondary deficiency might take place in individuals having underlying issues such as:

• Cystic fibrosis
• Cirrhosis
• Chronic diarrhoea
• Celiac disease
• Duodenal bypass
• Bile duct obstruction

If you are wondering how vitamin A deficiency is diagnosed, an eye exam is used for that. The levels of vitamin A in the blood can be measured by a blood test.

Individuals looking for ways as to how to prevent vitamin A deficiency must note that eating dark green leafy vegetables, orange and yellow fruits like oranges and papayas, carrots, and yellow vegetables like squash and pumpkin are helpful in the prevention.

Milk and cereals are some other sources of food that are fortified with vitamin A. The carotenoids that give orange, red or yellow colour to vegetables and fruits, and get converted to vitamin A in the body are absorbed in the best manner from homogenized or cooked vegetables served with oil or fat.

For vitamin A deficiency treatment, both oral and injectable forms of vitamin A can be undertaken. In the oral form, vitamin A supplementation proves to be effective when it comes to reducing morbidity risk, especially from severe diarrhoea and lowering all-cause mortality and mortality arising out of measles.

Besides these, dietary diversification and food fortification also prove to be useful for overcoming vitamin A deficiency. The richest animal sources of vitamin A include the liver (cod liver oil and beef liver).

Individuals having deficiency of vitamin A are administered high vitamin A doses for several days, usually via the mouth. This is followed by lower doses until the conditions of skin and vision improvement. Repeated high doses should not be given to infants as such doses can prove to be toxic.

Vitamins, on a biological scale, get absorbed within a few hours and show immediate metabolic effects. Having mentioned that, there exist several factors which affect their efficacy, prevent the body from fully absorbing them and hence helps determine how long it takes to correct vitamin A deficiency. These include:

• Levels of Deficiency: If someone is highly deficient in a specific mineral or vitamin, it might take up a long time for its rectification. Alternatively, there might be a necessity for a high dosage to ensure a faster recovery.
• Supplement Type: Vitamins administered in the capsule form would, in most cases, have a slower effect than in liquid form. This is due to the fact that the body needs to break down a capsule and extract the vitamins present inside.
• Fat vs Water-soluble Vitamins: Fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin A need fat to be absorbed. This can only take place by taking them along with food or mixing the nutrients with a fat present in the liquid or capsule. Vitamins that are fat-soluble in nature are stored in the body and hence might not require regular or high doses like the ones that are water-soluble in nature.
• Nutrient Pairing: There are a number of minerals and vitamins which are interrelated in the way they work. They get better absorbed if they are paired with each other. 
• Habits and Lifestyle: Some particular lifestyle habits and factors like smoking and drinking alcohol might cause malabsorption, and a higher intake might be necessary for maintaining equilibrium.
• Health Issues: Certain health problems can result in malabsorption like some people cannot absorb some vitamins due to gut diseases like coeliac or inflammatory bowel disease.

After going through this article regarding vitamin A deficiency, you are now aware of which disease is caused by deficiency of vitamin A and all other related facts. Every individual must be aware of these facts as it would help them take care of themselves and their close ones.