Fwd: [MC_USA] Vitamin A Deficiency Stats

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Wayne Fugitt

Sat, 24 Jan 2004 10:16:33 -0600

[MC_USA] Vitamin A Deficiency Stats

 

 

http://www.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/134/1/231S

 

© 2004 The American Society for Nutritional Sciences J. Nutr.

134:231S-236S, January 2004

 

 

 

Supplement: Proceedings of Symposium to Honor the Memory of James Allen

OlsonVitamin A Deficiency Disorders: International Efforts to Control A

Preventable " Pox " 1 Barbara A. Underwood2

 

Institute of Medicine, National Academies, 2101 Constitution Ave., NW,

Washington, D.C. 20418

 

To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: e-mail: bunderwo.

 

Visual symptoms (night blindness) of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) were among

the earliest diet-related deficiencies documented. Knowledge of vitamin A

chemistry, metabolism and deficiency consequences accrued rapidly during

the first eight decades of the 20th century. A series of disorders were

described in animals, including impaired growth, reproduction, epithelial

integrity, and disease resistance that were relieved by consumption of both

animal and plant sources of the vitamin.

 

Identification of the intestinal beta-carotene cleavage enzyme in the

laboratory of James Allen Olson was seminal to understanding the mechanism

for formation of vitamin A from ingested carotenoids. WHO’s 1990 estimate

of about 40 million children annually with clinical eye signs of VAD was

revised upward to 140 & shy;250 million at risk of vitamin A deficiency disorders

(VADD) when epidemiological and clinical trials demonstrated morbidity and

mortality risk even in the absence of ocular signs.

 

Alternative methods for VAD status assessment and more reliable analytical

techniques were developed, several in Dr. Olson’s laboratory. The last

decade has seen global progress in VADD control by expanding distribution

of medicinal supplements, fortification of foods and dietary

diversification through horticulture and education programs.

 

Experience shows that achievements gained through narrowly focused

interventions are fragile and vulnerable to national political and economic

instability. Contextually relevant, community-centered strategies that

improve household food and nutrition security and self-reliance are

critical to sustaining international efforts to control the VADD " pox. "

 

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