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Vitamin A

History of the discovery

The history of the vitamin A discovery started in 1909 with the experiments of the German scientist’s Stepp. He was observing young mices who were developing normally until their food was extracted with ether and alcohol. Apparently, this procedure made their diet defective, as their growth had stopped, and eventually they all died.

The thing was that extraction, without changing the structire of proteins, carbohydrates and mineral salts, were deleting fats and lipoids— fat-like substances, easily dissolved in alcohol and ether. The author of the experiment had explained the animals’ death with a lack of lipoids in their food. An inknowns substance which those products contained was originally called “The Growth factor” or «liposoluble factor A», before being renamed into vitamin A in 1916 г. Later the chemical formula of this vitamin was deciphered.

The scientists had also found out that extracts from carotene-rich plants (carotene is a yellow pigment which provides colour to carrots, pumpkins and other yellow and orange fruits) also had the ability to recover the stopped animals’ growth caused by the lack of the vitamin A. This pigment was originally obtained from carrots back in 1831, and was later named by it.

Human body turns carotene into the vitamin A, so it is called provitamin A. Apart from carrots carotene can also be found in red pepper, nettle, parsley leaves, pumpkins, fruits of sea buckthorn, wild rose, apricot. It is common in tree leaves as well, where yellow carotene is masked by the green chlorophyll.

This the most important vitamin was the first one to get an official denomination. That’s why he was given a name after the first letter of the Latin alphabet – A.

What does vitamin A do?

  • Keeps your skin and mucous membranes helthy;
  • Preserves and recover good sight;
  • Is an important antioxidant, required for cancer prophylaxis ;
  • Activates the immune system;
  • Vital for normal functioning of the gonads;
  • Contributes to the maintenance of bone structures.

Where can be found?

As beta-carotene it can be found in yellow-coloured fruits and vegetables and in some green vegetables as well. In its natural form it can be found in animal fats, e.g. egg yolks, butter, liver, dairy products.

How much is necessary?

Preventive doses are adjusted based on the human body’s daily requirement of vitamins. For vitamin A it is about 1 mg (or 3300 МЕ) per 24 hours.

Lack and excess

Lack of vitamin A causes actinic skin, sight worsens (there is pain in the eyes from the light, the night vision is deteriorating ). Excess of vitamin A is stored in the body, providing a toxic effect. It can be told by cracked and bleeding lips, dry and brittle hair, painful swelling in different parts of the body, nervous irritability. Some of the symptoms can be caused by the one-time vitamin A overdose. The only upleasant display of the beta-carotene excess is the orange tint of the skin.

Vitamin A is found in the following medicines:

Vitamin A is found in the following biologically active supplements: