New Book Documents Vitamin A Deficiency

“We have the knowledge to eliminate vitamin A deficiency from the face of the earth—we are prevented only by the folly of human indifference and misguided ideology,” said Dr. Semba. “This book is a call to action to narrow the gap between scientific breakthroughs in micronutrient supplementation and food fortification, and the distribution to deficient populations in developing nations.”

17 Oct 2012 --- The Vitamin A Story: Lifting the Shadow of Death, details how lack of vitamin A underlies the world’s most common and preventable immune deficiency disorder, leaving millions susceptible to blindness and diseases that can prove fatal. The book was written by Professor Richard D. Semba of the Wilmer Eye Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

This book shows how vitamin A deficiency – before the vitamin was known to scientists – affected millions of people throughout history. Exhaustively researched and documented, this book is written for intellectually curious lay readers as well as for public health professionals, nutritionists and historians of science and medicine. Despite extensive knowledge about how to prevent vitamin A deficiency, it still remains one of the leading public health challenges in developing countries.

“We have the knowledge to eliminate vitamin A deficiency from the face of the earth—we are prevented only by the folly of human indifference and misguided ideology,” said Dr. Semba. “This book is a call to action to narrow the gap between scientific breakthroughs in micronutrient supplementation and food fortification, and the distribution to deficient populations in developing nations.”

The Vitamin A Story unveils a common and yet for many decades unrecognized killer of men, women and children. The book reexamines reports from orphanages, hospitals, naval voyages and other records to construct a historical reinterpretation of millions of deaths. Rich in historical detail, the book demonstrates how vitamin A deficiency accounted for the large differences in night blindness cases between crewmen and naval officers in the 1800s, and in death rates between black and white soldiers during the US Civil War.

Clinical vitamin A deficiency was once common in developed countries, but has been eliminated through food fortification and greater consumption of milk and dairy products. Though the role of vitamin A in maintaining or restoring good health became clear in the 1990s, vitamin A deficiency persists, affecting 250 million children worldwide and killing nearly a quarter million children per year.

Vitamin A deficiency has only been recently recognized as an immunodeficiency disorder. Unlike AIDS, which is caused by a virus (HIV), the immunodeficiency disorder Semba describes is caused by a missing vitamin. Lack of vitamin A weakens the immune system and increases the risk of death from infectious diseases such as diarrhea and measles. In his book, Semba examines the historical record to show how this nutritionally-related immunodeficiency was widespread among soldiers, sailors, mothers and children.

It is nearly impossible for poor populations in developing countries to receive sufficient vitamin A through diet alone, because they cannot afford or do not have access to foods containing vitamin A (such as liver, egg yolk, dairy products, orange-colored fruits and vegetables and green leafy vegetables). Food fortification or supplementation is necessary among these populations for good health. In response to this need, UNICEF has implemented vitamin A supplementation programs in more than 100 developing countries worldwide, with significant results: distribution of vitamin A capsules has led to a 25 percent reduction in deaths among children under five.

“Thanks to better diets and fortification of foods with vitamin A, clinical vitamin A deficiency is rare in developed countries. Yet, it still remains a major cause of death and blindness in Africa and South Asia,” said Sight and Life Director Dr. Klaus Kraemer. “Dr. Semba’s presentation of vitamin A deficiency is likely to become a classic case study of health disparities in the past as well as the present.”

The book launch is supported with an education grant from Sight and Life. Sight and Life is currently celebrating its 100 Years of Vitamins campaign, an education and advocacy effort to raise awareness about the critical role of micronutrients in advancing global health and development.
About Professor Richard D. Semba

Dr. Semba is the author of The Vitamin A Story: Lifting the Shadow of Death. He is the inaugural W. Richard Green Professor of Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His areas of research include nutritional blindness (vitamin A deficiency disorders) in developing countries, emerging biomarkers for disease and application of proteomics to understanding of aging and chronic diseases.

Sight and Life is a nutrition think tank and humanitarian initiative of DSM that cares about the world’s most vulnerable populations, and exists to help improve their nutritional status. Acting as their advocates, Sight and Life guides original nutrition research, disseminates its findings and facilitates dialog to bring about positive change.