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Deficiency Diseases
Follow the links below to find information about diseases caused by deficiencies in the diet, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
Updated March 2011
Related HealthInsite Topics
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Links to information relating to anaemia.
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Links to information about Vitamin D deficiencies.
HealthInsite Topic Page
Links to information on the use of Vitamin K to prevent serious bleeding in newborn babies, including Haemorrhagic Disease of the Newborn (HDN).
27 Resources Found
Results 1 to 20 displayed. 1 2
| Title: | Iodine explained |
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| Publisher: | Better Health Channel |
| Description: | Iodine is important for hormone development. It is found in dairy products, seafood, kelp, eggs, bread, some vegetables and iodised salt. A lack of dietary iodine can cause an enlarged thyroid gland (goitre) or other iodine deficiency disorders including mental retardation in children. Pregnant women need higher levels of iodine. |
| Date: | Jan 2012 |
| Title: | Vitamin B |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Better Health Channel |
| Description: | There are eight B-group vitamins, which are essential for bodily functions such as energy production and making red blood cells. These water-soluble vitamins are easily destroyed when cooking or processing food. If planning a pregnancy, women should consider taking folic acid (folate) supplements to reduce the risk of conditions such as spina bifida in the baby. |
| Date: | Dec 2011 |
| Title: | Vitamins - common misconceptions |
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| Publisher: | Better Health Channel |
| Description: | Vitamin supplements are frequently misused. They may be taken as medicine to treat ailments such as colds or to counteract lifestyle issues such as stress. Contrary to popular belief, vitamins aren' t drugs or miracle cures. |
| Date: | Nov 2011 |
| Title: | Goitre |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Better Health Channel |
| Description: | A goitre is an enlargement of the thyroid gland. Symptoms of a goitre include enlargement of the throat, ranging from a small lump to a huge mass, swallowing problems and breathing problems. Causes include iodine deficiency and thyroid conditions, such as hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, nodules and cancer. Treatment depends on the cause. |
| Date: | Nov 2011 |
| Title: | Vitamin and mineral supplements |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Better Health Channel |
| Description: | Vitamins are organic compounds that our body needs in small amounts to perform a range of functions (metabolic processes). It is best to get vitamins from eating a varied diet. People who may need vitamin supplements include women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, some vegetarians, people who drink large quantities of alcohol, drug users and the elderly. |
| Date: | Oct 2011 |
| Title: | Scurvy |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Better Health Channel |
| Description: | Scurvy is a disease caused by severe and chronic vitamin C (ascorbic acid) deficiency. Symptoms include feeling generally unwell and bleeding gums. Babies and young children can suffer complications from scurvy including stunted bone growth. Good dietary sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits and green vegetables. |
| Date: | Oct 2011 |
| Title: | Menopause: consequences of oestrogen deficiency after menopause on bone health |
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| Publisher: | The Jean Hailes Foundation for Women's Health |
| Description: | Menopause results in oestrogen deficiency. It is also known that oestrogen levels begin to fall in the years preceding menopause, even when a woman continues to menstruate normally. It is this oestrogen deficiency around the time of menopause that contributes significantly to bone loss in women. |
| Date: | Jul 2011 |
| Title: | Calcium |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Better Health Channel |
| Description: | Calcium is essential for strong bones and teeth. Calcium deficiency can lead to disorders like osteoporosis (brittle bones). Good sources of calcium include dairy foods and calcium fortified products such as soymilk and breakfast cereals. Calcium is especially important for young children, teenagers and older women. |
| Date: | Jun 2011 |
| Title: | Mandatory folic acid and iodine fortification in Australia and New Zealand: baseline report for monitoring |
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| Publisher: | Australian Institute of Health and Welfare |
| Description: | This report presents key baseline data for monitoring mandatory folic acid and iodine fortification in Australia and New Zealand. Data are presented for each component of the fortification monitoring frameworks as follows: food composition; folic acid and iodine intake; folic acid and iodine status of the populations; and health outcomes. |
| Date: | May 2011 |
| Title: | Vitamin A for treating measles in children |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Measles is caused by a virus and possible complications include pneumonia. Measles is a major cause of death in children in low-income countries and is particularly dangerous in children with vitamin A deficiency. Eight studies involving 2574 participan... |
| Date: | Mar 2011 |
| Title: | Milk - facts and fallacies |
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| Publisher: | Better Health Channel |
| Description: | Milk is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, particularly calcium. However, some common fallacies or myths about milk may encourage some people to restrict their intake. There is no scientific basis to the theory that milk encourages extra mucous production. |
| Date: | Jan 2011 |
| Title: | Routine vitamin A supplementation for the prevention of blindness due to measles infection in children |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Annually 500,000 children become blind worldwide, 75% of them living in low-income countries. The major causes of blindness in children vary widely from region to region and are related to the standard of living of the community. Corneal scarring from m... |
| Date: | Jan 2011 |
| Title: | Carnitine supplementation for preterm infants with recurrent apnoea |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | More research is needed before the use of carnitine for the treatment of apnoea of prematurity can be recommended in clinical practice. Apnea of prematurity is a common problem in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care setting (NICU). Recurrent ... |
| Date: | Dec 2010 |
| Title: | Oral zinc for treating diarrhoea in children |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | In developing countries, millions of children suffer from severe diarrhoea every year. This is due to infection and malnutrition, and many die from dehydration due to the diarrhoea. Giving fluids by mouth (using an oral rehydration solution) has been sh... |
| Date: | Dec 2010 |
| Title: | Vitamin A supplementation for preventing morbidity and mortality in children from 6 months to 5 years of age |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major public health problem in low and middle income countries affecting 190 million children under 5 years of age. VAD pre-disposes children to increased risk of a range of problems, including respiratory diseases, diarr... |
| Date: | Oct 2010 |
| Title: | Vitamin A supplementation for postpartum women |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | While the amount of vitamin A in well-nourished mothers' breast milk is sufficient to meet the needs of their infants, this may not be the case for mothers from populations with vitamin A deficiency. Therefore, trials have tested whether giving mothers... |
| Date: | Aug 2010 |
| Title: | Vitamin A for preventing acute lower respiratory tract infections in children up to seven years of age |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Acute lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs), especially pneumonia and bronchiolitis, are leading causes of mortality in children up to five years of age. The Global Burden of Disease 2000 project estimated that the annual number of acute respirator... |
| Date: | Jun 2010 |
| Title: | Folic acid and pregnancy |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Child and Youth Health - CYH (South Australia) |
| Description: | Taking folic acid before pregnancy can reduce your chances of having a baby with spina bifida. |
| Date: | Jan 2012 |
| Title: | Protein |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Better Health Channel |
| Description: | Protein makes up about half of the human body's dry weight. Many of the foods we eat contain protein, particularly flesh foods (chicken, beef, lamb and fish) and legumes. Proteins are digested to release amino acids. In the body the amino acids are used to make new proteins, converted into hormones such as adrenalin or used as an energy source. |
| Date: | Jan 2010 |
| Title: | Zinc supplementation for the prevention of pneumonia in children aged 2 months to 59 months |
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| Publisher: | John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration |
| Description: | Zinc is an essential element for growth and development of children. Its deficiency is associated with increased risk of infection, particularly diarrhoea and pneumonia. Zinc supplementation in children has been reported to prevent pneumonia; however, i... |
| Date: | Jan 2010 |
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