A lack of vitamin C in the diet can result in vitamin C deficiency anemia and an acute vitamin C deficiency results in the disease scurvy. Signs and symptoms begin to manifest after 45 to 80 days of vitamin C deprivation. By that time, the body's stored vitamin C pool has fallen to about 20 percent of its optimal amount, according to Eleanor Whitney and Sharon Rolfes in "Understanding Nutrition."
With vitamin C deficiency, lesions occur in loose connective tissue and result in a range of physical and psychological impairments. Treat a vitamin C deficiency with citrus fruit such as orange, lemon or lime or with supplements.
Fatigue
Initial symptoms may include malaise, a general feeling of bodily discomfort or unease, and fatigue possibly resulting from impaired carnitine biosynthesis, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. The body makes carnitine to help transport fatty acids across the membrane in a cellular structure responsible for producing energy.
Bleeding Gums
One of the most notable signs of vitamin C deficiency is that gums bleed easily around the teeth. Swollen bleeding gums reflects the role of vitamin C in maintaining the integrity of blood vessels.
Loose Teeth
Weakness of bone, cartilage, teeth and connective tissue can result in loose and decaying teeth and eventual tooth loss. Gums are swollen and ulcerated due to defects in the oral epithelial basement membrane and periodontal collagen fiber synthesis, according to Kathleen Mahan, M.S. and Sylvia Escott-Stump, M.A., in "Krause's Food, Nutrition, & Diet Therapy." These structural weaknesses and fragile capillaries in the mouth lead to loose teeth and tooth loss.
Pinpoint Hemorrhages
With a vitamin C deficiency, capillaries under the skin may spontaneously break due to the compromised integrity of blood vessels. Capillary breakage and ruptured small blood vessels produce pinpoint hemorrhages. These small red spots, called petechiae, contain blood that has leaked from capillaries.
Dry Rough Skin
The skin may become rough, brown, scaly and dry, according to Eleanor Whitney and Sharon Rolfes in "Understanding Nutrition." Collagen formation is inhibited by impaired synthesis of two of its precursors, according to Sareen Gropper, Jack Smith and James Groff in "Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism."
Wounds Won't Heal
Wounds fail to heal with a vitamin C deficiency because scar tissue will not form. Impaired wound and fracture healing and easy bruising may result from a vitamin C deficiency.
Psychological Changes
Various psychological changes including hysteria, hypochondria and depression may result from a severe vitamin C deficiency, according to Kathleen Mahan and Sylvia Escott-Stump in "Krause's Food, Nutrition, & Diet Therapy."
References
- "Understanding Nutrition, Ninth Edition"; Eleanor Noss Whitney and Sharon Rady Rolfes; (2002)
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Vitamin C Health Professional Fact Sheet
- MayoClinic: Vitamin Deficiency Anemia
- "Krause's Food, Nutrition, & Diet Therapy, 10th Edition"; Mahan and Escott-Stump; (2000)
- "Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism"; Sareen Gropper, Jack L. Smith and James L. Groff; (2009)
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