Are Vitamin Deficiencies Deadly?

Noted nutritionist Dr. Elson Haas describes vitamins and minerals as micronutrients that are essential to human nutrition. The discoveries of most vitamins have resulted from the study of diseases caused by dietary deficiencies of these important nutrients. Vitamin deficiencies have been recognized for hundreds of years. Although uncommon in wealthy nations, vitamin deficiencies still occur in developing countries, where they often result in deaths.

Thiamine

Thiamine, or vitamin B1, was one of the first vitamins to be discovered and characterized. According to the World Health Organization, thiamine was isolated from rice bran in 1926 following scientists' discovery that consumption of polished rice led to a condition called beriberi. This disease, which had been described in China as early as 2600 B.C., occurs in different forms. Infants typically develop heart failure. Adults can be affected by dry beriberi, cerebral beriberi or cardiovascular beriberi. The symptoms and risks of these frequently overlapping disease varieties include weakness, muscle wasting, abnormal sensations in the extremities, confusion, poor balance, paralysis of eye muscles, fluid retention, heart failure, pulmonary edema, coma and death.

Vitamin B-12

A classic illness known as pernicious anemia was first associated with vitamin B-12 deficiency in 1926. Inadequate intake or impaired absorption of B-12 over a long period of time results in anemia and nerve damage. Vitamin B-12 is needed for the production of myelin, which protects and insulates your nerve cells. Without vitamin B-12, gradual loss of myelin leads to progressive degeneration of nervous tissue in your brain, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. If not treated, vitamin B-12 deficiency is fatal.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is essential for the production of normal collagen, which forms the basic structural network for your connective tissues. Vitamin C deficiency, otherwise known as scurvy, results in a degeneration of connective tissues, which leads to a breakdown of skin, mucous membranes and bones. Weakness, weight loss, muscle aches, joint pain and bleeding into joints, skin, eyes and internal organs occurs. Death might result from bleeding into the brain or heart muscle. According to the World Health Organization, scurvy was diagnosed as late as 1994 in Kenya.

Considerations

A host of human diseases, such as scurvy, beriberi, pellagra, rickets and pernicious anemia, are related to vitamin deficiencies. Any vitamin deficiency, if severe and prolonged, results in significant illness, and untreated vitamin deficiencies are frequently fatal. By definition, vitamins -- "vital amines" -- cannot be indefinitely excluded from your diet. A well-balanced diet that supplies adequate calories is the healthiest means of acquiring the vitamins you need. According to Haas, your daily caloric needs can be roughly estimated by adding a "0" to your body weight in pounds and adding another 5 to 10 calories for each minute of anticipated exercise. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds and you exercise 30 minutes each day, you should consume a variety of foods that furnish between 1,550 and 1,700 calories.