Vitamin A deficiency description:
Vitamin A deficiency is much more common in developing countries than in developed countries. Vitamin A deficiency occurs when the organism is not provided with sufficient quantities of beta-carotene, or vitamin A which results in low levels of blood-serum vitamin A. Beta-carotene can be found in plants and it is responsible for the pigment in orange-colored vegetables like carrot and fruits like orange. Beta-carotene has antioxidant properties and, in fact, it is sometimes also called Pre-vitamin A as it is a form of vitamin which is converted into vitamin A in the human body.
Vitamin A deficiency may cause blindness if it is prolonged and one of the most obvious vitamin A deficiency symptoms is night blindness. Moreover, vitamin A deficiency may cause maternal mortality as well as other undesirable complications in pregnancy and lactation.
See also: Vitamin A overview, Vitamin A deficiency causes and symptoms, Vitamin A deficiency diagnosis, Vitamin A deficiency treatment, Vitamin A deficiency prevention