Vitamin deficiency 14-year-old patient almost blinded due to one-sided nutrition

Unilateral diet: boy almost blinded due to vitamin A deficiency
A 14-year-old boy from the US almost lost his sight because of his one-sided diet. The teenager consumed almost only bread, coke, chicken and potatoes and therefore suffered from a vitamin A deficiency.

Bad consequences for the eyesight
It has long been known that nutrition can also affect our eyesight. High levels of vitamin C intake, for example, provide protection against cataracts, as British scientists recently reported. Important is also vitamin A. This does not improve the eyes, but a deficiency can have dire consequences for the eyesight, according to health experts. So also with a 14-year-old boy from the USA.

A 14-year-old boy from the United States would almost go blind due to one-sided nutrition. He consumed almost only bread, chicken, cola and potatoes and therefore suffered from a vitamin A deficiency. (Image: BillionPhotos.com/fotolia.com)

Only bread, coke, chicken and potatoes eaten
According to a report by the British Daily Mail, since the age of five, little Cian Moore from the United States has been feeding almost exclusively on bread, cola, chicken and potatoes. This malnutrition led to the vitamin deficiency that nearly cost him his sight.

The boy began to go blind. The doctors did not know why. When Cian's mother saw a program about an Australian doctor who was rescuing half-blind children, she flew to Sydney with her son.

Vitamin A deficiency damaged cells in the eye
The doctor, Professor Watson, chairwoman of the Australian and New Zealand Ophthalmologists' Association, then made the startling diagnosis: The boy suffered from a vitamin A deficiency that so badly damaged the cells in the eye that he lost some of his eyesight. "We need a certain amount of vitamin A, without which the cells do not mature normally," said the expert in a message from the "Sydney Morning Herald".

Lack due to one-sided nutrition
Vitamin A is an important component of the visual pigment rhodopsin. It is needed to maintain the normal cell structure of the cornea. Since vegetables like carrots contain a lot of the vitamin, they are good for the eyes.

A vitamin A deficiency may arise, among other things, from one-sided nutrition or due to diarrheal diseases.

Vitamin A deficiency is one of the most common causes of blindness worldwide. According to experts, between 250,000 and 500,000 infants in developing countries go blind each year due to vitamin A deficiency.

Too high intake of vitamin A
However, you can get too much of the vitamin too. For example, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) warned about over-the-top vitamin A intake over the past year. Accordingly, too high an intake of vitamin A can lead to headache and nausea, with chronic high intake even to liver diseases and scaling of the skin. Therefore, the additional intake should be limited by cosmetics containing vitamin A..

Damage to the eye remains forever
The now 16-year-old Cian initially took high doses of vitamin A and then started drinking vitamin shakes. He also eats vegetables now. The eyesight in his right eye has stabilized, but the damage on the left remains. He will have to live the rest of his life with the diminution of his eyesight. (Ad)