Is Vitamin A Deficiency a Growing Concern? A Pan-India Retrospective Study of 15,000 Individuals
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- 1Analytical Chemistry Division, Thyrocare Technologies Limited, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC, Turbhe, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, INDIA.
CORRESPONDENCE
Sandhya Iyer
Analytical Chemistry Division, Thyrocare Technologies Limited, TTC Industrial Area, MIDC, Turbhe, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, INDIA.
Received: 02-05-2019; Accepted: 25-08-2019.
Volume 8, Issue 2 · pp. 44-47 · 2019 · DOI: 10.5530/ajbls.2019.8.8
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Vitamin A deficiency is a very huge clinical burden, both subclinical and clinical. In the Indian scenario, it also forms a major aspect of the broad micronutrient deficiency. Absence of symptoms does not rule out deficiency, and that is what makes diagnosing subclinical deficiency of Vitamin A imperative.Methods: Data from a total of 15,116 specimens analyzed for serum Vitamin A levels were studied for this report. The cohort consists of all age groups, from infants to old adults, and includes 8,226 males and 6,890 females, respectively. Serum Vitamin A levels were analyzed using the superior platform of Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.Results: The clinical reference range for Vitamin A levels varies as per age, but to understand the prevalence of borderline low and high Vitamin A scenarios among Indians, 1 SD values of less than 387 ng/mL and > 748 ng/mL were considered for further analysis. The total frequency of borderline low was detected to be 9.8%, while that for high was 10.6%. Geographical distribution analysis identified a significant number of cases to be from North India and certain Southern States, wherein it is a public health issue and a concern needing action, as well as regions wherein deficiency is likely to exist.Conclusion: Our study is one of the few to assess a huge cohort of over 15,000 samples and present a detailed pan-India picture of low Vitamin A levels.
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Kushawaha, R., Kallathiyan, K., Iyer, S., & Sinkar, P. (2019). Is Vitamin A Deficiency a Growing Concern? A Pan-India Retrospective Study of 15,000 Individuals. Asian Journal of Biological and Life Sciences, 8(2), 44-47. https://doi.org/10.5530/ajbls.2019.8.8
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