Who is most at risk for vitamin C deficiency? Anyone can develop a vitamin C deficiency, but certain populations are at higher risk, including older adults, smokers, those with malabsorption syndromes, anyone with a limited diet, and individuals taking certain medications (such as corticosteroids).
Risk factors for deficiency include alcohol intake, tobacco use, low-income, male gender, patients on hemodialysis, and those with overall poor nutritional status. Although vitamin C deficiency is common, even in industrialized countries, overt scurvy is rare.
Things that increase your risk of scurvy
eat very little food at all – possible reasons include treatments that make you feel very sick all the time (such as chemotherapy) or an eating disorder such as anorexia. smoke, as smoking reduces how much vitamin C your body gets from food.
Older people are at greater risk of micronutrient deficiencies, including immune-supportive vitamin C, which is both a contributor to and a consequence of acute and chronic illnesses.
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is necessary for the growth, development and repair of all body tissues. It's involved in many body functions, including formation of collagen, absorption of iron, the proper functioning of the immune system, wound healing, and the maintenance of cartilage, bones, and teeth.
Globally, pre-school children are the most at-risk population groups for vitamin A deficiency (VAD).
Vitamin D Deficiency and Seniors
Approximately 90% of adults between the ages of 51 and 70 do not get enough vitamin D from their diet.
According to recent studies, more than 20% of the elderly population are at risk of vitamin B12 deficiency [31]. The prevalence of this deficiency is due to insufficient food intake and malabsorption of vitamin B12 due to degenerative digestive conditions.
In adults, symptoms of vitamin C deficiency develop after weeks to months of vitamin C depletion. Lassitude, weakness, irritability, weight loss, and vague myalgias and arthralgias may develop early. Symptoms of scurvy (related to defects in connective tissues) develop after a few months of deficiency.
Through boiling or steaming, water-soluble vitamins may be leached from food and prolonged cooking of food can destroy vitamin C; this could lead to decreased vitamin C status in certain social or ethnic groups. Drying of leafy vegetables also decreases water-soluble vitamins.
Vitamin C is best consumed in a raw state. The best way to consume vitamin C for optimum absorption is to supplement it together with iron. This is why it is commonplace to drink orange juice with your cereal. The iron in the cereal helps you to better absorb the vitamin C in the orange juice.
In some people, vitamin C might cause side effects such as stomach cramps, nausea, heartburn, and headache. The chance of getting these side effects increases with higher doses. Taking more than 2000 mg daily is possibly unsafe and may cause kidney stones and severe diarrhea.
People who smoke and those who are exposed to secondhand smoke, in part because smoke increases the amount of vitamin C that the body needs to repair damage caused by free radicals. People who smoke need 35 mg more vitamin C per day than nonsmokers.
Deficiency of this vitamin is often associated with anemia, infections, bleeding gums, scurvy, poor wound healing, capillary haemorrhage, muscle degeneration, atherosclerotic plaques and neurotic disturbances.
Older people are prone to develop vitamin D deficiency because of various risk factors: decreased dietary intake, diminished sunlight exposure, reduced skin thickness, impaired intestinal absorption, and impaired hydroxylation in the liver and kidneys (11–13).
Older adults are at risk for lower levels of vitamin D as a result of decreased cutaneous synthesis and dietary intake of vitamin D.
Vitamin B12 deficiency is common among the elderly. Elderly people are particularly at risk of vitamin B12 deficiency because of the high prevalence of atrophic gastritis–associated food-cobalamin (vitamin B12) malabsorption, and the increasing prevalence of pernicious anaemia with advancing age.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) developed DVs to help consumers compare the nutrient contents of foods and dietary supplements within the context of a total diet. The DV for vitamin C is 90 mg for adults and children age 4 years and older [13].
50 percent of Americans are deficient in vitamin A, vitamin C, and magnesium. More 50 percent of the general population is vitamin D deficient, regardless of age. 90 percent of Americans of color are vitamin D deficient. Approximately 70 percent of elderly Americans are vitamin D deficient.
You need vitamin C for the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of your body. It helps the body make collagen, an important protein used to make skin, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. Vitamin C is needed for healing wounds, and for repairing and maintaining bones and teeth.
The site for absorption is the distal small intestine and is regulated by renal excretion. Usual dietary doses of up to 100 mg/day are almost completely absorbed. The highest ascorbic acid concentrations are in the pituitary gland, the adrenal gland, the brain, leukocytes, and the eyes.