What is Retinol Deficiency ?

• Written by Mudit Handa

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Vitamin A plays a vital role in vision, metabolism, and cell metabolism. It also is an important component which keeps your immune system and reproductive system healthy. Since this cannot be produced by your body, it needs to be supplemented through your diet.  

Most importantly, it helps in the production of retinal pigment that helps with night vision. It also helps in lubricating the cornea, which otherwise would dry up, leading to blindness. Vitamin A is also essential for your skin, and the lining of your urinary and respiratory system.  There are two types of vitamin A namely- Preformed Vitamin A which is found in fish, liver, eggs, milk and cereals and Provitamin A available in vegetables like carrots, capsicum, and beetroots. If your diet is devoid of these animal and plant products for quite some time, you may develop Vitamin A Retinol deficiency.

Continue reading this article to know how retinol deficiency can lead to other health issues, its symptoms and treatment.

What Causes Vitamin A Deficiency? 

Lack of provitamin A and retinol in a regular diet causes severe deficiency. It may also happen due to liver disorders. The liver is a storehouse of vitamin A and when infected it can seriously impact retinol levels in the body. Vitamin A absorption can also be impaired if disease or inflammations infect your intestine layers. 

A few of such conditions are: 

• Chronic diarrhoea due to infected intestine or stomach
• Celia disease which affects the small intestine when you eat gluten, found in wheat and other grains
• A genetic disease called cystic fibrosis caused by thick mucus generation in the lungs and pancreas 
• Blockage of the bile duct when the flow of bile from the liver and gall bladder to your intestine is obstructed
• Crohn’s disease causes inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract

These diseases contribute significantly to retinol deficiency by affecting the organs responsible for its production and absorption.

Symptoms of Retinol Deficiency 

• Retinol deficiency symptoms vary widely. From dry skin to dry eyes, delayed growth to infertility and from poor immunity to night blindness, the symptoms can be many.
• Retinol helps rejuvenate your skin and reduces inflammation due to skin irritation. Thus, retinol deficiency can cause dry and itchy skin.
• Dry eyes and a clouded cornea are the early signs of retinol deficiency. In severe cases, it can cause blindness and dying cornea, characterising Bitot’s Spot.
• Low levels of Vitamin A can cause miscarriages and birth defects and also problems in conceiving.
• Children with high levels of retinol deficiency are found to have stunted growth. Since retinol helps in cell development and metabolism, deficiency prevents normal growth in children.
• Retinol deficiency also causes throat and chest infections as it lowers immunity. 
• Vitamin A promotes the production of collagen, which is crucial for skin repair and is important for healthy skin. Deficiency causes slow healing after injury or surgery.

Retinol helps with skin inflammation and fights acne. Developing acne is one of the common symptoms of retinol deficiency. Sometimes Vitamin A is applied topically to treat acne as well.

Retinol Deficiency Diseases 

In case the level of retinol is abysmally low in your body, it may give rise to some serious conditions or diseases: 

• Nyctalopia: Typically known as night blindness, it is caused when photopigment is not produced by your retina, causing blurring of vision, especially at night.
• Xeropthalmia: When corneal lubrication is reduced, it dries out, leading to corneal xerosis and ulceration. 
• Bitot’s Spots: Oval, triangular, foamy spots visible on the white portion of the eyes.
• Keratomalacia: Cornea dries out and becomes cloudy, impairing vision and leading to blindness.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Retinol Deficiency  

Your physician will advise you on a complete blood test if any such deficiency symptoms are reported. In case you have trouble with night vision, electroretinography can also be advised to be performed, which examines the light-sensitive cells in your eyes called photoreceptors. It measures your retinal responses to flashes of light.

A serum retinol blood test can also be performed in case the doctor suspects a serious deficiency of, vitamin A.

Treatment is simple. It starts with doctors advising the intake of Vitamin A supplements in high doses initially if your symptoms are severe. 

Once the vision and skin inflammations start to cure slowly, the dosage is reduced gradually. Supplements of retinol can cure dryness of the eyes and night blindness. However, damages caused by corneal ulcers cannot be reversed. Along with these supplements, having Vitamin A rich diet like colourful vegetables, fruits like mango, papaya, cantaloupe, dairy and poultry products can also help in preventing illnesses that get complicated and incurable.

Keep in mind that you need to have a balanced diet. Excess of Vitamin A can also be toxic to your body and have a reverse effect. Excessive consumption can often lead to skin rash, headaches, hair loss and even liver damage.

Also Read: What Deficiency Causes Low Platelets?

Ensure Quality Healthcare with Care Health Insurance

Needless to say these tests are expensive. However, these are required to be done for proper diagnosis of the illness. Hence, managing these expenses can be difficult considering the high cost. Thankfully, Care Health Insurance plans offers coverage for outpatient consultations under selected plans along with diagnostic tests, giving you much-needed financial relief. It also gives you access to  24800+ network healthcare centres to avail quality healthcare services in case of a medicalemergency without worrying about the expenses. 

Disclaimer: The above information is for reference purposes only. Kindly consult your general physician for verified medical advice. The health insurance benefits are subject to policy terms and conditions. Refer to your policy documents for more information.