Question

Why does a deficiency of vitamin A cause night blindness? Dry eyes?

Class: FW122: Human Nutrition

Answer 1

Answer: - Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and a powerful antioxidant that plays an important role in maintaining healthy vision, neurological function, healthy skin and strong immune system. Vitamin A is required by the retina of the eye in the form of retinal, which in combination with a protein opsin, forms Rhodopsin, the light absorbing molecule vital for low light as well as color vision.

Vitamin A deficiency can lead to a thickening and dryness of the cornea that eventually results in clouding of the front of the eye, corneal ulcers and blindness. Vitamin A deficiency can also affect the retina. One of the first signs of vitamin A deficiency is night blindness.