Human vitamin A needs vary depending on age. If vitamin A is not provided in accordance with the body’s needs, it will lead to many dangerous diseases. On the other hand, vitamin A abuse also causes many disadvantages to the user’s health.

1. What are the uses of vitamin A?

Vitamin A  is a fat-soluble vitamin, when in excess it is not excreted from the body but accumulates in the liver. Vitamin A is abundant in foods such as eggs, milk, animal liver. The precursor form of vitamin A (beta-carotene) is abundant in yellow and red fruits and vegetables such as  carrots,  tomatoes , gac fruit,  bananas , papaya, … and dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, Malabar spinach, Malabar spinach, sweet potato leaves, …

Vitamin A is an essential active ingredient for reproduction, development, cell division, gene replication, vision and immune function. Vitamin A is indicated for people with night blindness, dry eyes, psoriasis, acne, dry, brittle hair, vestibular syndrome, menopausal disorders, vulvar atrophy, loss of smell, chronic rhinopharyngitis, toxic deafness, tinnitus, respiratory and gastrointestinal infections,…

Vitamin A is indicated for people with night blindness.

2. What diseases does vitamin A deficiency cause?

• Affects vision: when lacking vitamin A, the patient has symptoms of night blindness, cannot see in dim light at dusk, dry eyes. If not treated promptly, protein hydrolysis and corneal tears can lead to permanent blindness.
• Impaired immunity: vitamin A deficiency in children increases the risk of children contracting infectious diseases such as measles, diarrhea, respiratory diseases, etc.
• Slow growth: children with vitamin A deficiency often have poor appetite, slow growth, fatigue, hair loss, dry skin. Early and prolonged vitamin A deficiency can also affect the child’s later growth and intelligence.
• Skin problems: vitamin A plays an important role in regenerating skin cells and fighting inflammation. Therefore, vitamin A deficiency can cause dermatitis, itchy skin, dry skin, eczema, acne, etc.
• Adverse effects on fertility: both men and women who do not get enough vitamin A can experience fertility problems. In addition, during pregnancy, if the mother does not get enough vitamin A, it can lead to the risk of miscarriage or birth defects.

People with  vitamin A deficiency  can add foods rich in vitamin A to their diet such as liver, eggs, meat, dairy products, etc. In addition, vegetables, tubers, and fruits with yellow or dark red colors such as tomatoes, carrots, ripe papaya, etc. or dark green vegetables such as amaranth, Malabar spinach, water spinach, etc. also have very high vitamin A content. In case of not getting enough vitamin A, the patient can take vitamin A tablets as prescribed by the doctor.

Supplement foods rich in vitamin A suitable for each person’s body

3. What diseases does excess vitamin A cause?

Vitamin A can accumulate in the body. If vitamin A is used in large amounts, daily for a long time, the user may experience the following symptoms of chronic poisoning:

• Headache, nausea, fatigue.
• Red, dry and scaly rash.
• Dry and cracked lips, hair loss, hypercalcemia, hyperlipidemia, swollen lymph nodes, amenorrhea, etc.
• Stomatitis, bone pain.
• Children may have increased intracranial pressure, bulging fontanelle, headache, convulsions, etc.
• Children often have jaundice in the palms of their hands and soles of their feet.
• Children’s bone development is inhibited, so they grow slowly and gain weight slowly.
• Pregnant women in the first 3 months of pregnancy who use high doses of vitamin A for a long time can cause fetal malformations (cleft palate, cardiovascular, muscle, bone, central nervous system malformations, etc.)

What to do with excess vitamin A? Children with jaundice due to excess beta-carotene only need to stop supplementing foods rich in vitamin A and the yellow skin will go away, without any dangerous incidents. In addition, users should be careful not to abuse vitamin A but should use this vitamin under the guidance of a doctor.