Deficiency Diseases

By Adrian Joele

In today’s world, we don’t see a lot of full-blown deficiency diseases. Although deficiency diseases are rare in developed countries, they may still occur. However, we do see sub-clinical or low-level deficiency diseases.

People with digestive disorders may not get all the nutrients they need. People who abuse alcohol are particularly prone to deficiency diseases, as are those who live in poverty. They regularly occur in many parts of the developing countries.

You can also have, what’s called localized tissue deficiencies. That means, you might have enough of a nutrient in your blood, but you might not have enough in specific tissues, such as your lungs or cervix. This put you at risk for lung cancer and cervical cancer, respectively, and you’d never even know it!

Rickets

Rickets is a bone-softening disease that occurs when the body doesn’t get enough vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential to transport calcium and phosphorous into the bones to prevent that your bones are getting soft. Vitamin D deficiency is now recognized as an epidemic in the USA.

In children, it can cause growth retardation. In adults, it causes a painful bone disease, called osteomalacia. It also causes muscle weakness, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, and many common cancers.

For most people, 15 minutes of sunshine will provide the Daily Allowance of 400 IU. The RDA (Recommended daily allowance) is 200 IU. But for optimal health, the recommendation is 600 IU. The USANA Health pack contains 500 IU per packet, with 2 packets per day.

Beriberi

Beriberi is caused by a deficiency of thiamin, a B vitamin that is essential for helping the body utilize energy. Although beriberi is very rare in the USA, bariatric surgery is causing a resurgence of it and the other nutritional deficiencies as well. Beriberi shows up one year after surgery.

Bariatric surgery (weight loss surgery) includes a variety of procedures performed on people who have obesity. Weight loss is achieved by reducing the size of the stomach with a gastric band or through the removal of a portion of the stomach.

Pellagra

In 1914, the year when World War 1 began, a terrifying epidemic swept through the South of the USA, causing diarrhea, skin inflammation and in many cases death. More than 100,000 people were struck down, and worst of all, nobody knew what caused it.

It wasn’t until 1937, that scientists understood that pellagra (meaning rough skin)was caused when people didn’t get enough niacin, a B vitamin, in their diet. Especially in the rural South, where people relied on corn as their main grain, which contains a form of niacin that isn’t available to the body.

Today we’ve all but kissed pellagra goodbye in the USA, thanks to the fortification of flours and cereals, which makes it very easy to get the DV of 20 milligrams of niacin. However, pellagra is still common in parts of the world where people have a lot of corn in their diets. And it can develop after gastrointestinal disease, even from alcoholism. It can also be a complication of the eating disorder anorexia.

Scurvy

Long before it was understood that certain foods are essential for preventing disease, sailors worldwide often suffered from scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency, causing slow wound healing, bleeding gums, pneumonia and eventually death.

The amazing thing about scurvy is that you can reverse it almost instantly by having several servings of food that are rich in vitamin C. In fact, sailors who were all but depleted of vitamin C where often able to recover in a matter of days after including oranges or lemons in their diets.

Scurvy has been virtually wiped out for centuries, yet today, vitamin C deficiency is cropping up in the most unexpected places. When an Arizona State University researcher tested vitamin C levels in college students, many were just on the sunny side of scurvy.

To get enough vitamin C in your diet, just pour some orange juice. One 6-ounce glass contains 73 milligrams of vitamin C. Other excellent sources include citrus and tropical fruits, broccoli, and sweet peppers.

The RDA of vitamin C is 60 mg and the recommended optimal level is 1300 mg. Although the RDA’s did a good job to eliminate Scurvy and Rickets. Consuming the RDA ‘s does not even come close in order to prevent degenerative diseases. Which are still on the rise, and our epidemic health stats show that!

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About the Author

I have been involved in nutrition and weight management for over 12 years. I like to share my knowledge with anyone who could benefit from it. Also, I like to help people solve their problems. For more info about nutrition and weight loss, visit: https://www.nutrobalance2.net

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Article source: Amazines