VITAMIN A

Overview Information

Vitamin A is a vitamin. It can be found in many fruits, vegetables, eggs, whole milk, butter, fortified margarine, meat, and oily saltwater fish. It can also be made in a laboratory. Carotenoids are a group of yellow or orange chemicals found in plants. Some of these can be converted to vitamin A in the body.

Some people take vitamin A by mouth or as a shot into the muscle for treating vitamin A deficiency. It is also taken by mouth to reduce complications of diseases such as malaria, HIV, measles, and diarrhea, and to improve growth, in children with vitamin A deficiency.

Some women take vitamin A by mouth for heavy menstrual periods, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), vaginal infections, yeast infections, "lumpy breasts" (fibrocystic breast disease), and to prevent breast cancer. Some women with HIV also take vitamin A by mouth to decrease the risk of transmitting HIV to the baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breast-feeding. It may also be used to prevent various complications during and following childbirth and to improve infant development.

Some men take vitamin A by mouth to raise their sperm count.

Some people take vitamin A by mouth for improving vision and treating eye disorders including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa, and cataracts. It may also be used to promote healing after eye surgery.

Vitamin A is also taken by mouth for skin conditions including acne, eczema, psoriasis, cold sores, wounds, burns, sunburn, keratosis follicularis (Darier's disease), ichthyosis (noninflammatory skin scaling), lichen planus pigmentosus, and pityriasis rubra pilaris.

It is also taken by mouth by some people for gastrointestinal ulcers, Crohn's disease, parasites in the intestines, gum disease, diabetes, Hurler syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis), sinus infections, hayfever, respiratory infections, osteoarthritis, tuberculosis, and urinary tract infections (UTIs). It is also used to reduce symptoms of a liver disease associated with drinking too much alcohol (alcoholic hepatitis), multiple sclerosis, and of Parkinson's disease.

Vitamin A is taken by mouth for shigellosis, diseases of the nervous system, nose infections, loss of sense of smell, asthma, allergy prevention, persistent headaches, kidney stones, overactive thyroid, iron-poor blood (anemia), deafness, ringing in the ears, and precancerous mouth sores (leukoplakia).

Other uses include preventing and treating cancer, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and to reduce side effects during cancer treatment. It is also used for protecting the heart and cardiovascular system, slowing the aging process, and boosting the immune system.

Some people apply vitamin A directly to the skin to improve wound healing, reduce wrinkles, and to protect the skin against UV radiation.