Vitamin A and the Importance in Health and Disease
Known as anti-opathalmic, vitamin A is essential for growth and vitality. It builds up resistance to respiratory and other infections and works mainly on the eyes, lungs, stomach and intestines. It prevents eye diseases and plays a vital role in nourishing the skin and hair. It helps to prevent premature ageing and senillity, increases life expectancy and extends youthfulness.

The main sources of this vitamin are fish liver oil, liver, whole milk, curds, pure ghee, butter, cheese, cream and egg yolk, green leafy and certain yellow root vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, turnip, beets, carrot, cabbage and tomato and ripe fruits such as prunes, mangoes,pappaya, apricots, peaches, almonds and other dry fruits. A prolonged deficinecy of vitamin A may result in inflammation of the eyes, poor vision frequent colds, night blindness, and increased susceptibility to infections, lack of appetite and vigour, defective teeth and gums and skin disorders.

The recommended daily allowance of vitamin A is 5,000 international units for adults and 2,600 to 4,000 international units for children. When taken in large therapeutic doses, which are usually 25,000 to 50,000 units a day, it is highly beneficial in the treatment of head and chest colds, sinus trouble, influenza, and other infectious diseases. It is also valuable in curing night blindness and other eye diseases as well as many stubborn skin disorders.

This vitamin can be given upto 1,00,000 units a day for a limited period of four weeks under doctor's supervision. In a recent year-long study, huge doses of vitamin A given twice a year reduced death by about 30 per cent among Indonesian children. This has raised the hope in the fight against a significant cause of childhood mortality in developing countries.

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Sexy Vitamins? Which Vitamin Is Your Pick?

It an interesting topic and the answer is in the eyes of the beholder. But this is my conclusion.

On my website it is a vitamin that people want more information on than any other vitamin. In fact I was quite surprised!

I will give you some clues:

1. It helps the skin – so we are talking about looks, your appearance, your pride in yourself, your attractiveness to the opposite sex.

2. It is in the following foods:

– Liver, eggs, margarine, peaches, papaya, oatmeal, citrus fruit and dietary supplements.

3. The body uses it:

A. in maintaining eyesight,

B. Reducing pre cancerous lesions especially in the mouth,

C. Maintaining normal cell growth and division especially for reproduction (embryo's),

D. In bone growth,

E. As an antioxidant which helps reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke,

F. And lastly,makes white blood cells that help maintain the immune system fight viruses, infections and bacteria.

4. It isn't Vitamin C.

5. Zinc is most important in transporting it from the liver where it is stored to the parts of the body where it is needed.

6. Some of the first signs of deficiency are:

A. Worsening eyesight especially at night due to the retina and cornea being damaged,

B. Lack of resistance to fight infections in the respiratory, urinary and digestive tracts like measles and pneumonia.

C. Slower growth rate in children.

D. Problems with lack of fat absorption can lead to Celiac disease, Crohn's disease and pancreatic disease.

E. Dry/rough skin due to the lack of essential fats.

So do you give up?

Believe it or not it is Vitamin A.

It is consistently at the top of the most visited vitamin, week after week on website. This month of February is ahead by 24% over it's next rival.

I believe that vitamin A is the most sexy because it is so important to the skin.

Dry and rough skin is a big turn off to other people. People especially teenagers are very self conscious because of pimples.

So what are some of the solutions?

Having a diet rich in vitamin A foods and/or dietary supplements and/or vitamin A cream will overcome this problem.

Drinking 8 glasses of water a day stops you getting dehydrated gets rid of the toxins in the body and cleanses your skin cells especially acne due to the skin pores being blocked with fat. It will keep your skin moist and by not dehydrating it, you will also look younger, and have healthy skin.

But be careful as too much Vitamin A in the body can cause Hypervitaminosis A whereby a large quantity is stored in the liver causing toxic effects.
This can be shown in the following ways:

1. Liver disorders.

2. Osteoporosis due to poor bone development and/or growth.

3. Defects at birth due to foetus damage.

4. Damage to a person's central nervous system.

People who consume excess amounts (usually a supplement) over a short time may show signs of:

1. Vomiting,

2. Dizziness,

3. Headaches and blurred vision.

So use supplements wisely by following the manufacturer's instruction but generally the RDA is 750 mcg for both men and women.

Article by Peter Gouwland, editor of http://www.Vitamins-info-guide.com which gives information on vitamins before you buy for people and pets, targeted topics of special interest and links to natural dietary supplement suppliers.
Copyright ? 2006 Peter Gouwland – Vitamin-info-guide.com. All Rights Reserved

Did you know that vitamin A is one of the less well-known vitamins even though it's actually a very important mineral to our overall health and fitness? Everyone seems to know about the benefits of vitamin C, especially in regards to cold and flu prevention and most people know of the benefits of vitamin E and that it can be very good for your hair, skin and eyes. But when you ask what is a good source of vitamin A and what is it used for you tend to get a blank look in reply. But despite this vitamin A is actually a very important vitamin to have and consume in our daily dietary needs in the right quantities.

Many consumers and health minded individuals who can answer the question what is a good source of vitamin A will often refer to carrots as being one of the best. Of course, most people have heard the old saying about carrots giving you good eyesight and night vision. It's one of those things that you heard from your grandmother that if you ate more carrots you would be able to see better in the dark. Actually, as with many old sayings, there is an element of truth in it because carrots do contain good levels of carotene and as a result high levels of vitamin A. This is also true of other foods such as sweet potatoes and tomatoes.

If your doctor has told you that you need to increase your daily intake levels of vitamin A. and you would like to know what is a good source of vitamin A in your daily diet then probably the best way is to increase your consumption of these foods. Of course, you can also take a supplement however if you're considering doing this then it is probably a good idea to get your doctor to recommend one to you so that you take the right amount for your condition.

Unless your doctor advises you to take them supplements may not be the best way to increase your levels of vitamin A. Even if you are not fond of carrots, sweet potatoes and tomatoes but still want to know what is a good source of vitamin A then there are others such as peppers, milk and eggs, but you should still take your doctor's advice if you think that you may be experiencing a deficiency and need to supplement your vitamin A. Vitamin A is a very important vitamin but is also important to make sure that you're taking the right amount and not taking too much, especially if you are using supplements. So a quick visit to the doctor or even asking the pharmacist where you buy the supplements may be a good way to make sure that you are taking the right amount.

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of VitaminSupplementsGuide.com. He provides more information on anti-aging supplements, dietary supplements, vitamin A and answers the question what's a good multivitamin that you can research in your pajamas on his website.

A compound of vitamin A called topical Retin-A also known as tretinoin, mainly used to treat acne problems, enhances the healing of foot ulcers in patients with diabetes according to a report of the Archives of Dermatology.

Though previous studies showed that topical Retin-A was a bit helpful in enhancing wound healing in patients with diabetes and some results were discussed by different scientifics, a group of researchers tried to know if tretinoin really helped or not to these patients.

The research was carried out with 24 volunteers who had diabetic foot ulcers but who showed no evidence of infection or circulation problems in their extremities. Some patients were assigned to 4 weeks of daily treatment with topical 0.05% tretinoin solution meanwhile the control group was assigned to a treatment with a saline solution. Both groups were assessed every 2 weeks.

The 22 volunteers who completed the study were affected by a total of 24 foot ulcers. 18% of patients in the control group (2 of the 11 ulcers) and 46% of patients in the treated group (6 of the 13 ulcers) achieved a complete healing at the end of 16 weeks. There was no statistical significance of adverse events, though some patients experienced mild pain at the ulcer site.

The researchers were pleased with the results, although they were a bit concerned because tretinoin irritates and they thought that the patients would become so irritated that they wouldn't be able to continue the research. However, this situation didn't seem to be a problem in most cases, as they explained.

A conclusion for the researchers was that they hope that diabetic foot clinics know about this and use Retin-A when other therapies that they use don't work.

Article written by Hector Milla editor of http://www.mydiabetessupply.com, a website about diabetes testing supply, or you may read their last article: Juvenile Diabetes Warning Signs at http://www.mydiabetessupply.com/1/juvenile-diabetes-warning-sign.html

Thanks for using this diabetes article in your website or ezine keeping a live link.