Because vitamins as essential nutrients are mostly derived from diets, etiology of hypovitaminosis has always been associated with either in-adequate intake from diet or abnormality of absorption whereby a large quantity of these essential nutrients remains unabsorbed even when present abundantly in diet. Night blindness is associated with vitamin A deficiency, deficiency of vitamin B12 or that of folic acid is associated with megaloblastic anemia while spinal bifida has been associated with the deficiency of folic acid in the mother while the baby was in-utero. Probably because vitamins are present in small quantities, in the past, diseases of vitamin deficiencies were treated using various vitamins supplementarily in their management however, advancement in science has led to many biochemical and biological methods that are appropriately used in the identification, measurement and diagnosis of diseases associated with many of the known vitamins.ĭue to the involvement of these vitamins in several metabolic processes in spite of their small quantities, their deficiencies usually manifest clinically in various forms for example, pellagra and beriberi are clinical conditions associated with the deficiency of niacin and thiamine respectively, (sub-groups of vitamin B), scurvy is a clinical condition associated with vitamin C deficiency, while osteomalacia (in adults) and rickets (in growing children) are associated with vitamin D deficiencies.
They also combine with proteins to form enzymes which participate in various body reactions including in the development of body’s immune system. They thus catalyze organic reactions by participating in the formation of hormones, cells, chemical structures of the nervous system, composition of genetic material and a host of other biological processes. Vitamins are a large family usually grouped as micronutrients they are mostly derived from diets with few exceptions and unlike other food substances, this family of micronutrients usually exist in complexes with one another and thus cannot be obtained from a single dietary source.įunctionally, vitamins are involved in various metabolic processes where they serve usually as coenzymes in various biochemical reactions associated with proper functioning of the whole organism. Vitamins are organic compounds essential in small quantities for normal physiologic and metabolic functioning of the body.
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