The Benefits Of Vitamins A & B

Vitamin A: Vitamin A is a group of fat-soluble substances that play a key role in vision, development of bone and skin, and production of red blood cells. They are also important to the establishment of patterns in the human embryo. The applications of carefully limited doses of supplemental vitamin A in maintaining health are numerous. Vitamin A seems to prevent the progression of cervical dysplasia to cervical cancer. A Japanese study found that women with the lowest bloodstream concentrations of vitamin A were 4.5 times more likely to develop cervical cancer than women with the highest bloodstream levels of the vitamin.

The problem with vitamin A is that there is a possibility of birth defects if it is accidentally overdosed during the first 3 months of pregnancy. Unless otherwise indicated for special health conditions, women of reproductive age should limit consumption of supplemental vitamin A to 5,000 IU per day. Very high doses of the vitamin have, on rare occasions (approximately 1 in 5 million births in the United States), caused birth defects. A daily dose of 5,000 IU per day can be used safely during pregnancy but may not prevent cervical cancer.

Vitamin A and zinc deficiency produce the major complications of alcohol abuse, poor night vision, slow healing of wounds to the skin, depressed production of testosterone and estrogen, and poor immune function.

Alcohol interferes with the intestines' ability to absorb vitamin A and zinc. Night blindness is a serious health problem in societies in which women, in particular, are chronically deficient in vitamin A. Vitamin A supplementation greatly reduces but does not eliminate the problem. Zinc supplements added to vitamin A, however, nearly completely eliminate night blindness when the underlying cause is nutritional deficiency.

Relatively low doses of vitamin A are sufficient to prevent immune "burn-out" due to stress on the thymus during various kinds of infections. Vitamin A also makes antibodies more responsive to various kinds of infections, increases the rate at which macrophages engulf and destroy bacteria, and stimulates natural killer (NK) cells.

The first signs of vitamin A overdose are dry skin and chapped lips, especially in dry weather. Later signs of toxicity are headache, mood swings, and pain in muscles and joints. In massive doses, vitamin A itself can cause liver damage. Discontinue vitamin A at the first sign of toxicity.

Vitamin B6: Vitamin B6 is a term for a group of related compound including pyridoxal-5'-phosphate, pyridoxine-5'-phosphate, and pyridoxamine-5 '-phosphate, which are absorbed by tissues at slightly different rates. Deficiencies of vitamin B6 are associated with a number of diseases.

Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) deficiencies cause increased sensitivity to testosterone in the skin. Women who have flare-ups of acne along with PMS often improve after taking vitamin B6. Women who develop acne during testosterone treatment usually benefit from taking B6. Vitamin B6 is useful in treating ADD and ADHD, preferably in its active form, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP).

Vitamin B6 was as effective as Ritalin in controlling "hyper" behaviors, and that the benefits of vitamin B6 supplementation continued for nearly a month after its daily use was discontinued. Vitamin B6 had an additional advantage in that it increased bloodstream levels of the hormone serotonin, associated with improved social orientation in ADHD.

Supplementation with vitamin B6 can help treat amenorrhea in women who have high levels of the hormone prolactin. This is the hormone that enables milk production, so vitamin B6 is most likely to help women who develop amenorrhea while nursing. It may also help amenorrheic women whose stores of the vitamin have been depleted as a side effect of using oral contraceptives or prescription drugs for asthma or epilepsy.

Vitamin B6 is important for children with asthma. In a study of 76 children with asthma, taking 100 milligrams of vitamin B6 twice a day resulted in fewer attacks, less wheezing, coughing, and chest tightness, and less frequent use of inhalers. In adults, vitamin B6 does not necessarily improve lung capacity, but taking the vitamin results in decreased wheezing.

A series of studies have found that magnesium and vitamin B6 used together are of considerable benefit in treating autism, considerably more than either supplement used by itself. Supplementation with magnesium and vitamin B6 reduces the excretion of homovanillic acid, which is a rough measure of the presence of the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine in the brain. Presumably the combination of supplements reduces stress.

These are only a few of the applications of vitamin B6. Dosages range up to 500 milligrams per day, but taking more than this amount may cause tingling, numbness, or burning in the fingers or toes. Women who use oral contraceptives and people who take prescription medications for bipolar disorder, unipolar depression, tuberculosis, or seizures are at risk for vitamin B6 deficiency. If you take theophylline (Theo-Dur) for asthma and have any history of seizure disorder or unexplained loss of consciousness, you should not take vitamin B6.

Vitamin B12: Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is a collective term for a group of B vitamins containing cobalt. Deficiency of this vitamin is associated with pernicious anemia, a particularly destructive form of vitamin B12 deficiency that causes blood cells to be broken down faster than they can be replaced. This form of anemia is called "pernicious" because it develops slowly over a period of at least 3-6 years and the damage it causes is well advanced before any symptoms appear.