Vitamin K Deficiency: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment & Prevention

Do you suffer from excessive bleeding? Does any cut or wound take longer to get healed?

If yes, you are suffering from vitamin K deficiency. Vitamin K is a group of essential fat-soluble compounds that helps in clotting blood and absorbing calcium, affecting bone and heart health. So naturally, the lack of it affects concerned body parts and internal functioning.

Read along to know more about vitamin K deficiency, the related symptoms, causes and treatment.

Vitamin K deficiency refers to a condition where both adults and newborns suffer from various symptoms like excessive bleeding, easy bruising, etc. This is because the body lacks the required protein that helps in coagulation (in layman’s terms, blood clotting).  

Vitamin K is the main agent that helps the body produce prothrombin responsible for blood clotting. If an individual lacks vitamin K, the coagulation process cannot begin instantly. Hence, they suffer from excessive bleeding. 

One must note that vitamin K inadequacy is rare in adults due to its presence in common dietary sources such as green leafy vegetables, grains and oils.

However, infants are at high risk of vitamin K insufficiency, which can further be triggered in the presence of several factors such as liver disease, malnutrition, and a side-effect of taking specific prescribed drugs.

Insufficient vitamin K does show certain symptoms. Let’s learn about them in detail.

Vitamin K deficiency symptoms differ in the case of adults and infants. These are separately discussed below. 

Vitamin K Deficiency Symptoms in Adults

Symptoms of vitamin K deficiency include-

• Excessive bleeding
• Bleeding gum and teeth
• Bruises easily
• Heavy and painful menstruation

Vitamin K Deficiency Symptoms in Infants

Vitamin K deficiency symptoms in infants include-

• Bruising around face or head
• Bleeding around the belly button, nose and mouth at sites of vaccination
• Bleeding in the penis during circumcision
• Paleness, especially around gums
• Bleeding while vomiting or urinating
• Blood in the bowel movement
• Yellowish skin and eyes (noticeable during the third or fourth week after birth which is distinct from jaundice)

Now that you know what are the symptoms of vitamin k deficiency, let’s look at the various reasons that cause this deficiency.

As stated earlier, deficiency of vitamin K is rare in healthy adults. Nonetheless, mentioned below are some of the vitamin K deficiency causes-

• If individuals take coumarin anticoagulants like warfarin, that acts as a blood thinner.
• If individuals rely on high doses of vitamin A and E.
• If individuals do not eat vitamin K enriched foods.
• If individuals take antibiotics that affect vitamin K production and absorption.

Apart from these, there are certain medical conditions that trigger vitamin K deficiency, such as malabsorption. In this particular condition, a body is unable to absorb fat in the required amount. Individuals with the following conditions are most likely to suffer from vitamin K insufficiency (fat malabsorption)-

• Cystic fibrosis
• Patients who underwent the intestine part removal like during Bariatric surgery
• A disorder in the biliary tract (liver, bile ducts and gallbladder) or intestines
• Celiac disease

Similar to the symptoms of vitamin K deficiency, the causes also vary in the case of newborns. These are discussed below-

• If infants get breast milk that is low in vitamin K.
• If the liver of a newly born baby cannot actively utilize vitamin K.
• If a baby receives insufficient vitamin K from the mother’s placenta.
• If newborns cannot produce vitamin K on their own during the initial days of their life.

After learning about the causes of vitamin K deficiency, the next area of focus includes vitamin K deficiency diseases. Read along!

To initiate the list of vitamin K deficiency diseases, let us know about vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding (VKDB). It refers to a condition where their body cannot stop bleeding due to insufficient vitamin K in the blood, which helps to form the clot.

Apart from this-

• Vitamin K deficiency leads to Osteoporosis.
• The lack of this nutrient can result in poor bone development.
• Insufficient vitamin K may end up in increased cardiovascular disease.

After knowing which disease is caused by a deficiency of vitamin K, it is time to move to the next section regarding the side effects of vitamin K deficiency.

Adults suffering from vitamin K deficiency for a long time need to treat the condition timely. Long term ignorance can lead to excessive bleeding. However, vitamin K inadequacy is treatable in most cases.

On the other hand, in the case of infants, if intracranial haemorrhage lasts long or is left untreated, it can result in brain damage or even death.

The group of people exposed to the risk of vitamin K deficiency are-

• Adults with malabsorption disorder.
• Infants who are not treated with vitamin K at birth.

There are two types of treatment available for vitamin K deficiency: short-term and long-term treatments. Let us discuss it briefly.

• Short-term Treatment: As the name implies, this type of treatment continues for a short period and can well be treated with either oral supplementation or injections.
• Long-term Treatment: Those having underlying chronic conditions need long-term treatment, meaning they have to depend on lifetime vitamin K supplements.

However, in most cases, the body starts to show the effects of the treatment after 2 to 5 days of taking supplements.

Now that individuals know everything related to vitamin K deficiency, i.e., symptoms, causes and healing methods, they can prepare a food chart accordingly and prevent themselves from suffering against such deficiencies.