Vitamins are an essential component for the normal growth and functioning of your body's cells. A lack of these nutrients can affect almost every part of the body, including the nervous system. Symptoms usually appear after long-term conditions such as malnutrition or malabsorption and depend on the type and degree of chronic deficiency.
Vitamin D Deficiency
Lack of sun exposure is a major reason some Americans have low levels of vitamin D. Sunlight is a major source of vitamin D, which has both antioxidant and hormone-like properties. Vitamin D is also very important to bone health. The October 2005 "Southern Medical Journal" states that vitamin D deficiency in the first two years of life results in rickets, which weakens and distorts the skeleton. In adults, vitamin D deficiency is associated with muscle aches and bone pain. Conditions related to vitamin D deficiency include cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, heart disease and diabetes.
Vitamin B-12 Deficiency
Chronic vitamin B-12 deficiency may cause severe, irreversible neurological damage, characterized by difficulty walking, muscle spasticity, depression, dementia or personality changes. If your diet includes animal proteins such as beef, poultry, fish, eggs and milk, you are probably consuming adequate B-12. Long-term adherence to a strict vegan diet increases the risk of vitamin B-12 deficiency. Absorption of B-12 from protein foods, however, depends on several digestive substances, such as intrinsic factor, in the gastrointestinal tract. Reduced amounts of intrinsic factor may be hereditary or occur with age, gastric surgery or alcoholism. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that one in 31 older Americans have low levels of vitamin B-12. Ensure you have adequate levels of this nutrient by taking supplements or consuming fortified foods.
Vitamin C Deficiency
Found in fruits and vegetables, vitamin C is an antioxidant that protects the cells in your body from damage. Healthy skin and connective tissue, healing and the absorption of iron depend on vitamin C. Pregnant and breast-feeding women, young children, smokers, burn victims and those recovering from surgery are at highest risk of deficiency. Before scientists knew to treat the disease with stores of citrus fruits, sailors on long-term voyages developed scurvy. The deficiency caused weakness, bleeding gums, open sores and death. Scurvy is rare in modern America, but low levels of vitamin C may affect early development. Danish researchers from the University of Copenhagen investigated the effects of vitamin C deficiency in guinea pigs. They fed young animals a poor diet and found, even at levels that were not low enough to produce scurvy, vitamin C deficiency caused nerve damage and decreased ability to learn. The study was published in the September 2009 "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition."
Vitamin E Deficiency
Oils and fortified foods provide adequate vitamin E; deficiencies are rarely due to poor diet. Chronic vitamin E deficiency occurs in conjunction with impaired fat absorption, such as gastric surgery, pancreatic insufficiency, Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis or liver damage. The condition may affect babies born prematurely. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that may protect the heart as well as the nervous system. Symptoms of chronic vitamin E deficiency may include vision and speech problems, weakness and poor muscle coordination.
Vitamin A Deficiency
If driving after dark is difficult, night blindness could be the problem. One cause of this condition is vitamin A deficiency, which is rare in the United States. Vitamin A as beta carotene is abundant in orange-colored vegetables and fruits as well as fortified cereals and multivitamins.
Thiamin Deficiency
Thiamine is known as vitamin B -1. Grains, beans and nuts are rich sources of this nutrient; cereals are also fortified with B vitamins. In the United States, alcoholism is the most common cause of chronic thiamine deficiency, causing severe, permanent neurological damage. Symptoms of thiamine deficiency may include numbness, tingling, paralysis, pain and mental confusion.
References
- PubMed: Vitamin D: Important for Prevention of Osteoporosis, Cardiovascular Heart Disease, Type 1 Diabetes, Autoimmune Diseases, and Some Cancers
- CDC: Vitamin B 12 Deficiency
- "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," Vitamin C deficiency in early postnatal life impairs spatial memory and reduces the number of hippocampal neurons in guinea pigs, Tveded-Nyborg P., et. al., September 2009, 90(3)
- Medline Plus: Scurvy
- University of Florida: Facts About Vitamin E
- Drugs.com: Vitamin E Deficiency Medications
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