Symptoms of vitamin deficiency are more often manifested in the off-season. This painful condition can be caused due to disturbances in the body, but more often than not people themselves do harm. For example, adhering to too strict diets. It is important to notice the problem in a timely manner in order to begin to eliminate it as soon as possible, before it leads to serious consequences.
What is vitamin deficiency?
Symptoms of vitamin deficiency will not take long, because this is a disease in which the body does not have one vitamin or their group. Fortunately, the problem is quite rare.
An example of vitamin deficiency is the case when a baby is fed a wrong mixture for a long time. Gradually, a deficiency of vitamins occurs, and then their absence. This can happen if the baby is not given timely feeding or does not give enough fruits and vegetables.
Vitamin deficiency is often confused with hypovitaminosis. This should be sorted out.
It’s important not to mix it up!
Symptoms of vitamin deficiency are often called signs of hypovitaminosis. These are different stages of the same problem. Only hypovitaminosis is less dangerous, since it develops with a lack of vitamins in the body. A lack does not mean a complete absence, as with vitamin deficiency.
Hypovitaminosis is quite common. It lends itself well to vitamin correction. The risk group includes infants, adolescents at the time of puberty, women during gestation and lactation, people with bad habits. But back to vitamin deficiency, or rather the reasons for its appearance.
Causes of occurrence
Symptoms of vitamin deficiency can be observed in people with an inadequate diet. For example, girls who adhere to strict monotonous diets. Vitamins do not enter the body for a long time. This leads to metabolic disorders and even less absorption of beneficial components.
Important reasons include smoking, drinking alcohol, psychotropic and other drugs. Such a lifestyle destroys the body, a person does not think about rational nutrition.
In rare cases, the problem is associated with pathology of the internal organs. For example, in a person with low acidity, vitamin B 12 and some trace elements are not absorbed. Without specialized help, he will not be able to restore vitamin balance.
With certain drug therapies, vitamins are destroyed. These same drugs interfere with the absorption of newly introduced nutrients. Usually these are drugs that lower the acidity in the stomach.
Other causes are associated with the presence of parasites in the body, thyroid disease, and environmentally unfavorable living conditions.
In the photo, vitamin deficiency, the symptoms and treatment of which are associated with a balanced diet, are manifested by poor appearance. It is impossible not to notice this. More on this.
Symptoms of vitamin deficiency on the skin
The first problems are asymptomatic. When the situation becomes more complicated, initial signs appear. It is rather difficult to ignore them, because everyone pays attention to their appearance.
Alert should the tendency of the skin to irritation and inflammation. Many people face the problem of acne on their faces. They try to treat her in a cosmetic way, but sometimes the reason lies in the lack of vitamins A, C, E.
The skin in the photo (a symptom of vitamin deficiency) is dry, flaky, with cracks. Soon the problem will lead to early aging, the appearance of wrinkles. Not only the face suffers.
So with a lack of vitamin A, “goosebumps” appear on the body. Pathology appears on the hips, knees, elbows, legs.
Dark pigmented spots may appear on the body that can merge together. The appeared problem should be treated by a dermatologist. When restoring proper metabolism, pigmentation can completely disappear.
With a lack of vitamin B 2, the secretion of the sebaceous glands increases and contamination of excessively oily skin occurs. Because of this, acne, boils are often formed. Rosacea develops on the face.
Vitamin E vitamin deficiency leads to stretch marks on the skin. They resemble those that are formed during the bearing of a child. They arise not only in women, but also in men.
Manifestation on the hands
The absence of certain vitamins affects the skin of the hands, which is very dry, covered with cracks. Hands constantly itch and peel. The wounds that appear do not heal for a long time, they can become inflamed. From the fingers, the skin can begin to peel off, causing pain and anxiety.
Like the face, wrinkles appear on the hands. Nails that become brittle also suffer. The nail plate is bent, folded. A person experiences psychological discomfort, as others pay attention to the hand problem.
Manifestation on the lips
Symptoms of vitamin deficiency in adults appear on the lips. Due to the lack of vitamin B, the delicate skin of the lips loses its elasticity and dries out. Non-healing cracks appear in the corners, which cause pain.
In the absence of proper hygiene, staphylococcus or another dangerous bacterium can get into the cracks. Then the problem will get worse.
Children's vitamin deficiency
Symptoms of vitamin deficiency in children appear quickly enough. This is due to the growth process and development of the young organism. In addition to the symptoms listed above, you should pay attention to the following general symptoms:
- severe awakening in the morning, general weakness;
- drowsiness throughout the day;
- the child is not able to concentrate on a given time;
- unreasonable decline in academic performance;
- unexplained tearfulness;
- troubled sleep;
- frequent illnesses;
- the tongue has deep furrows;
- problems with the respiratory system;
- the appearance of strange taste preferences in the form of chalk, coal and other inedible substances;
- bleeding from the nose and gums;
- cramps.
With advanced vitamin deficiency, bones of the skeleton are deformed, frequent fractures are observed.
Severe consequences of vitamin deficiency
It is necessary to pay special attention to your diet, because vitamin deficiency gets its development due to the lack of various vitamins in the body. This often provokes the development of serious diseases:
- Night blindness - a decrease or lack of night vision. The problem is in vitamin A.
- Scurvy - a disease manifests as vascular fragility, tooth loss, pain in the limbs, and a decrease in immunity. The reason lies in vitamin C. Tsingoy was sick sailors, until sauerkraut was introduced into the diet.
- Pellagra - an ailment manifests itself as photodermatosis, weakness, insomnia, diarrhea. Limb paralysis may occur. It occurs in the absence of vitamin PP.
Such diseases require prolonged therapy.
Treatment
Before prescribing treatment, the doctor must determine what kind of vitamin in the body is not. Just knowing the symptoms is not enough. Modern tests allow you to see the clinical picture in full.
Symptoms of vitamin deficiency and treatment of the disease are associated with vitamin complexes. When it comes to hypovitaminosis, it is not always worth treating with medication. Enough to establish a diet for a person suffering from a lack of vitamins.
If a person is in a serious condition, hospitalization may be necessary with the introduction of vitamins in the form of droppers and injections.
With a lack or absence of certain vitamins, a specialist prescribes medicines, nutritional vitamin supplements. In addition, a large number of products that contain the necessary elements are introduced into the diet.
Only a doctor should make a decision on the introduction of vitamins in the form of drugs into the body. Especially when it comes to the child.
Oversaturation with vitamins is an even more dangerous condition of the body. It is called hypervitaminosis. Saturating the body with vitamins is easier than removing them from it.
Prevention
In order to avoid the symptoms of vitamin deficiency and hypovitaminosis, it is necessary to adhere to a rational, wholesome, varied diet. This is especially true for children.
List of healthy foods and vitamins that they are rich in:
- Butter, liver, sorrel, blackcurrant - vitamin A.
- Peas, buckwheat, bran - IN 1 .
- Kidneys, milk, eggs - In 2 .
- Vegetable oil, greens, meat, milk - E.
- Meat, fish, offal, fruits, vegetables - PP.
- Legumes, meat, fish, offal, bananas - 6 .
- Soy, liver - At 12 .
- Kiwi, blackcurrant, lemon, strawberry, horseradish, cabbage - C.
- Cauliflower, green tomatoes, vegetable oil - K.
- Egg yolk, fatty fish - D.
Also, vitamin D is produced by the person himself, more precisely by the cells of his skin under the influence of sunlight. Therefore, a walk in the fresh air charges the body with a necessary element. But the method does not work in winter, when there are practically no sunny days. That is why babies born in the fall are prescribed vitamin D in drops.
Vitamin K is also produced in the body. This occurs in the intestines not without the help of microflora.
Please note that some products may be allergic. But in general, they are ordinary food on the tables of Europeans for several generations, or even more.
If the food is varied, it will be able to please household members and fill them with useful elements. Then you will not have to learn about vitamin deficiency.