Vitamin A is one of the fat-soluble vitamins and retinol is one of its most active forms. This vitamin is found in animal foods such as liver and eggs and in some fortified food products. Retinol is often called preformed vitamin A and can be turned into retinal and retinoic acid, also active forms of vitamin A. About 25% and 35% of vitamin A consumed by men and women in the US is provided by provitamin A carotenoids. Beta-carotene is a provitamin A carotenoid that is more efficiently converted to retinol than other carotenoids.
Vitamin A plays a significant role in vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division and cell differentiation. It helps to maintain the membranous linings of the eyes and the respiratory, urinary, and intestinal tracts. Those linings protect the organs from being invaded by bacteria and viruses.
Vitamin A is involved
with the regulation of our immune system, which helps prevent or combat
infections by producing white blood cells that destroy harmful bacteria and
viruses and helping lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that help us
fight infections, function more vigorously.
Retinol is required for growth and reproduction of the skin, and
differentiation of epithelial tissue. This is important because your skin
ages over time and the results are wrinkles, rough texture, discolorations,
and thinning. Retinol is an essential fat-soluble vitamin that is used to
combat these negative effects and promote healthy skin.
Vitamin A deficiency can result in a variety of medical problems. It can cause xeropthalmia, damage to the cornea of the eye, and even blindness. Night blindness is one of the first signs of vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency contributes to blindness by making the cornea very dry and promoting damage to the retina and cornea. Vitamin A deficiency lessens our ability to fight infections. When there is not enough vitamin A, cells lining the lung lose their ability to remove disease-causing microbes, which may be partly responsible for the pneumonia associated with vitamin A deficiency.
Vitamin A is recommended for all children diagnosed with measles in communities where vitamin A deficiency is a major problem. It is also recommended for two subgroups of children likely to be at high risk for sub-clinical vitamin A deficiency, namely, children between 6-24 months old who had been hospitalized with measles and hospitalized children older than 6 months.
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