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What is vitamin A and why do we need it?
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Gilbert, Clare |
| Copyright Year | 2013 |
| Abstract | minerals and other compounds, is an essential micronutrient. This means that our bodies cannot manufacture it and therefore it has to be included in our diet. Vitamin A from food is stored in the liver until required by the body and is bound to protein before being transported to where it is needed. Vitamin A is essential for many physiological processes, including maintaining the integrity and function of all surface tissues (epithelia): for example, the skin, the lining of the respiratory tract, the gut, the bladder, the inner ear and the eye. Vitamin A supports the daily replacement of skin cells and ensures that tissues such as the conjunctiva are able to produce mucous and provide a barrier to infection. Vitamin A is also essential for vision under conditions of poor lighting, for maintaining a healthy immune system, for growth and development and for reproduction. Vitamin A supports many systems in the body. For this reason, vitamin A deficiency is now referred to as vitamin A deficiency disorders. For simplicity, however, we will continue to use the older term vitamin A deficiency (VAD). One of the main consequences of VAD is an increased risk of severe infection. Infection increases the body’s demand for vitamin A and so the deficiency gets worse. Children can therefore become involved in a vicious cycle of deficiency and infection, which is why vitamin A deficiency is such an important cause of child mortality. |
| Starting Page | 65 |
| Ending Page | 65 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| PubMed reference number | 24782580 |
| Journal | Medline |
| Volume Number | 26 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.cehjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/what-is-vitamin-a-and-why-do-we-need-it.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/4d/2f/jceh_26_84_065.PMC3936685.pdf |
| Journal | Community eye health |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
