VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY

Vitamin A Deficiency with Increased Mortality in HIV

Vitamin A Deficiency with Increased Mortality in HIV

LITERATURE REVIEW

Vitamins are very essential for the human body and its deficiency can create a number of problems. Vitamin A is an element that is present in some foods and is necessary for normal functioning of the human body. For these reasons, vitamin A deficiency is rare. Vitamin A has a direct impact on immunity system of a human being. This has been proved with the help of animal studies that Deficiency of vitamin A leads to the problem of the immune system. In countries like India, such deficiency also causes children mortality due to infectious decease like HIV (Kassu , 2008, 106).

Deficiency of vitamin A in women who are pregnant is linked with severe anemia, malnutrition, night blindness, wasting, and infected deceases. There are increasing risks of mortality when women are affected with any of these diseases but, problems occur after 1-2 years after delivery. Vitamin A has impact on breast, epithelial lining of the placenta integrity, or maternal lower genital tract. Deficiency of vitamin during pregnancy may cause premature delivery and less weight of the baby. The condition of the digestive and systemic mucosal immune systems is also disturbed due to deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency increases the vulnerability of children to infections and increases the severity of many of them. Furthermore, this deficiency is the single most important cause of childhood blindness in developing countries (Yared , 2002, 462).

If the beneficial effect of vitamin A supplementation in improving maternal health in Africa is proven, it will be possible to implement this intervention in the community. The vitamin A is already implemented in children in many African countries and several food preparations are already fortified with vitamin A. To the extent that awareness of the benefits of intervention in children is considerable, the inclusion of pregnant women in awareness campaigns further should not be too difficult. Moreover, in many parts of Africa, women have used to take supplements of folic acid and iron and antimalarial drugs during pregnancy. It would be theoretically feasible to include a vitamin A supplement, especially if a combination tablet containing folic acid, iron and vitamin A to be taken once a day was developed.

Good nutrition is essential in particular for pregnant women and lactating women infected with HIV. Where research indicates that lack of vitamin A in the diets of pregnant women and nursing mothers can contribute to HIV transmission from mother to child. The fact is that the possibility of HIV transmission from mother to a child is not only one of the reasons for the targeting of women alongside men to eradicate AIDS (Coutsoudis , 1995, 1076).

A normal vitamin status may also reduce the transmission during childbirth and breastfeeding to reduce HIV viral load in genital secretions and breast milk and vitamin supplements could be one of the few potential treatments with prices affordable enough so that they are the range of people infected with HIV in ...