Avitaminosis: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment of Avitaminosis

Avitaminosis is a deficiency of one or several vitamins in the body. The degree of development of beriberi can manifest itself in different ways, ranging from brittle nails to serious diseases. Normally, a healthy person with a varied diet should receive a huge amount of vitamins, microelements, acids and fats. If the diet is broken or the body for some reason does not absorb the proper dose of nutrients, there comes a critical lack of vitamins. Today let's talk about vitamin deficiency - its manifestations, causes of development and methods of treatment.

How to recognize beriberi

The symptoms of beriberi are very extensive and diverse. Depending on the lack of a specific element, avitaminosis can manifest itself with the following symptoms.

1. Vitamin C is very important for human immunity.If the body is deficient in vitamin C, the skin becomes gray, loses its natural glow and elasticity. A person often feels overwhelmed and lethargic, his performance decreases, and the patient feels pain in the muscles. With a critical lack of vitamin C, the gums start to bleed, the teeth may start to loosen. Due to lack of ascorbic acid, a decrease in immunity and exacerbation of many chronic diseases can be noticed. One of the most dangerous manifestations of vitamin C deficiency is Tsing's disease. The disease was common in the Middle Ages, usually it was sick seamen and people besieged in the fortresses. The disease is manifested by dizziness, pain in muscles and joints, severe drowsiness, drooling, pale skin, changes in the structure of the gums. Vitamin C deficiency is very dangerous and can even be fatal.
2. Vitamin B1 is responsible for the psycho-emotional health of a person. With a lack of this vitamin, the patient often feels crushed and irritated, his speech and memory are impaired, his intellect level decreases, tearfulness appears, his working capacity drops significantly.In some cases, vitamin B1 deficiency leads to disruption of the internal organs - constipation or diarrhea appears, the liver increases, pressure decreases, and pain in the stomach and heart.
3. Vitamin A. With a deficiency of this substance, the body begins to slowly fade. The skin becomes dry and gray, begins to peel off, folds and wrinkles appear. Lack of vitamin A in the body immediately notice women - they see how the condition of the skin and face deteriorates. In many cases, vitamin A deficiency leads to vision impairment - its severity decreases, especially at dusk. The patient may feel that the eyes have become dry, as when wearing contact lenses. A lack of vitamin A can lead to depression, stress, neurosis, memory impairment, insomnia.
4. Vitamin K is needed to maintain the integrity and elasticity of blood vessels. With a lack of vitamin K, the patient is located to the development of various bleeding - from the gums, wounds, nose, in the internal organs. With a deficiency of vitamin K, hematomas appear on the skin even from a minor bump or push.
5. Vitamin E is considered the main female vitamin, since its deficiency very quickly affects the appearance and gynecological health.Vitamin E deficiency is manifested by a lack of sexual desire - in both men and women. Moreover, a person can become whiny, irritable, muscles become weak, often numb. With a lack of tocopherol, the skin becomes dry, wrinkled, pigment spots are formed on the surface. For a woman, a small amount of vitamin E in the body is dangerous because it becomes difficult for her to get pregnant and carry the baby.
6. Vitamin B2 is responsible for many processes in the human body. When it is lacking, the oral mucosa often becomes inflamed, skin sensitivity decreases, vision deteriorates, hair falls out, and cracks and wounds may appear in the corners of the mouth. With riboflavin deficiency, the patient’s general condition worsens, he becomes weak and apathetic, loses appetite and weight. In some cases, dermatological diseases may worsen.
7. Vitamin PP. With its deficiency there is diarrhea, frequent heartburn, nausea, poor appetite, muscle pain. A person becomes apathetic and very tired. One of the worst consequences of a lack of nicotinic acid in the body is Pellagra disease.It is caused by extensive symptoms - ranging from brittle nails and hair, to baldness, the appearance of blemishes on the skin, abnormalities in the digestive tract, and even paralysis.
8. Vitamin D. It is responsible for the integrity of bone tissue and calcium absorption. With a deficiency of vitamin D bones become fragile, brittle and soft. The lack of this vitamin leads to muscle and joint pain, obesity, a significant reduction in immunity. Moreover, there are symptoms such as irritability, aggression or apathy, tearfulness, weakness, fatigue, stress, unstable nervous condition.

We identified the symptoms of a deficiency of essential vitamins. But how does beriberi develop? What could be the reason for this?

What leads to the development of beriberi

Here are the main factors that can cause avitaminosis.

1. Very often avitaminosis develops in the event that the necessary elements do not enter the body along with nutrition. Such a deficiency can occur when strict diets are observed in an effort to lose weight. Weight loss should be literate and eating only buckwheat or kefir alone will not make you slimmer, but will lead to serious and even dangerous consequences. Mono-diet is one of the main causes of beriberi.When losing weight, the diet should be prepared by a specialist.
2. Often, avitaminosis develops when eating fast food and junk food, when the body does not get enough fresh vegetables, berries and fruits.
3. Avitaminosis often develops in third world countries, when it is not possible to eat normally. In antiquity, avitaminosis and diseases associated with it were a frequent companion of people under siege and blockade.
4. In some cases, the cause of beriberi can be taking drugs against weight loss. They cause vomiting or interfere with the absorption of food.
5. Long-term use of sorbents can also cause avitaminosis, since the sorbent, getting into the intestine, absorbs not only toxins, but also vitamins, and then excreted from the body naturally.
6. Avitaminosis can be the result of various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, in which the digestion of food is impaired. Most often this is observed with dysbacteriosis, when the microflora is suppressed - there are no beneficial bacteria in the intestine, which are necessary for the synthesis of vitamins.
7. At risk, children and the elderly, because their metabolism is imperfect - the children are just getting better, and the senile begins to falter.
8. Very often, avitaminosis develops during pregnancy and lactation.After all, at this time all the useful elements are necessary for consuming the needs of the baby, and nutrition, often, remains as scarce, not designed for two. That is why pregnant and lactating women so often lose their hair, break nails, peel off skin.
9. Antibiotics and drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis can also cause avitaminosis.
10. Avitaminosis in urban residents is observed in winter and spring, when the number of fresh vegetables and fruits is sharply reduced.

Knowing about the main reasons for the development of beriberi, in many cases you can protect yourself from this pathological condition. But what if beriberi is diagnosed in a child?

Features of the course of avitaminosis in a child

Avitaminosis in newborns may be due to inadequate or unbalanced nutrition of the mother during pregnancy. Transferred viruses and infectious diseases can also be a prerequisite for a baby's avitaminosis.

Most often in children of the first year of life there is a deficiency of vitamin D. Its deficiency may be the cause of the development of rickets. As a result - the curvature of the legs, an increase in the skull and chest, weakness of the limbs and late self-walking. You can avoid this, because vitamin D we get not with food, but with the help of sunlight. Vitamin is synthesized in human skin by ultraviolet. For the treatment of vitamin D deficiency you need to walk more with the child in the sun. And you need to walk in the morning, the vitamin is absorbed only until 11 o'clock in the afternoon. It is not necessary to expose the newborn baby to direct sunlight - leave the child in the shade, the reflected rays have the same effect.

How to treat vitamin deficiency

In most cases, people with signs of avitaminosis, try to buy a multivitamin complex, which, in their opinion, will protect them from all diseases. However, it is not. Drinking multivitamin complexes without a doctor's prescription is undesirable and even dangerous. After all, an excess of a vitamin in the body can also lead to diseases. It is best to take tests and consult a doctor who will prescribe you the right drugs. In other cases, you can get rid of beriberi by using nutrition - a balanced, varied, healthy. Every day in the diet should be cereals, meat, fruits, vegetables, herbs and dairy products. And you need to alternate everything. If today you ate buckwheat, tomorrow you need to add barley to the diet, the day after tomorrow - rice, etc. If today from the meat in the diet was beef, tomorrow you need to eat fish, the day after tomorrow give preference to chicken. Such alternation will allow you to achieve diversity. To fill the deficiency of a particular vitamin, you need to know what foods it contains.

1. Vitamin A - carrots, butter, beef liver, egg yolks.
2. Vitamin PP - milk and dairy products, green peas, fish, buckwheat, rye bread, fish, pumpkin, tomatoes.
3. Vitamin E - vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, beans, cereals.
4. Vitamin C - citrus, kiwi, sauerkraut, cranberry, sea buckthorn, apples.
5. Vitamin B2 - broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, dill, bell pepper.
6. Vitamin B1 - wheat bran, buckwheat, beans, peas, soy.
7. Vitamin D - fish oil, salmon, butter, red caviar, liver.

Knowing about the lack of a vitamin, you will be able to increase the nutrition of certain foods that will help get rid of the deficiency and defeat beriberi.

In order to prevent the development of beriberi, you need to monitor the quality of your diet. Eat fruits and vegetables in season, store vitamins for the long winter and spring. In the cold season, give preference to nuts and dried fruit. Drink decoctions of herbs, freeze berries and fruits - when they freeze, they retain most of the nutrients. Care for your skin with moisturizers and lotions, because dry epidermis is a risk of cracks and open wounds. In addition to food, you need to pay more attention to walking in the fresh air, giving up bad habits. In winter and spring, you can drink multivitamin complexes, but only after consulting a doctor.Take care of your body, because its health depends largely on nutrition and your lifestyle.

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