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Vitamin Deficiencies and Excess

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Textbook of Clinical Pediatrics

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Vitamins are natural chemical compounds required in minute quantities for health and normal nutrition in humans. They are divided into two groups, namely, water and fat-soluble vitamins. The former are pro-coenzymes that provide active substances necessary for enzyme synthesis and the latter alter conformation of complex molecules and membranes.

Water-Soluble Vitamins

Vitamin B Group Deficiencies

As the sources of vitamin B are present in more or less the same type of animal and vegetable foods, X and X deficiency of one is likely to be associated with deficiencies of others. Clinical manifestations of B vitamin deficiencies are usually seen in famine situations in developing countries, where there is also the added potential risk of improper preparation of food with long-term storage due to shortage of water and cooking facilities. Unlike fat-soluble vitamins, excess of water-soluble vitamins is not of significant concern.

Thiamine (B1)

Thiamine forms the heat labile portion of the B...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dr. Gaafar Ibnauf Children’s Specialized Hospital, P.O. Box 412, Khartoum, Sudan

    Gaafar I. Suliman MBBS, FRCP(Lon), FRCPCH(Lon),DCH(Lon) (Professor in Paediatrics and Child Health)

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Islamic Hospital, P.O. Box 11350, University of Jordan, Amman, 11942, Jordan

    Hisham M. Nazer FRCP, DCH, FRCPCH, DTM&H (Professor of Paediatrics)

Authors
  1. Gaafar I. Suliman MBBS, FRCP(Lon), FRCPCH(Lon),DCH(Lon)
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  2. Hisham M. Nazer FRCP, DCH, FRCPCH, DTM&H
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gaafar I. Suliman MBBS, FRCP(Lon), FRCPCH(Lon),DCH(Lon) .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

    Abdelaziz Y. Elzouki (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

  2. National Center of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (NCAAI), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Harb A. Harfi (Director) (Director)

  3. Consultant Pediatric Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Islamic Hospital, Amman, Jordan

    Hisham M. Nazer

  4. Seattle Children's Hospital University of Washington, School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    F. Bruder Stapleton (Professor and Chair Department of Pediatrics) (Professor and Chair Department of Pediatrics)

  5. Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Woman and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    William Oh (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

  6. University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Richard J. Whitley (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Suliman, G.I., Nazer, H.M. (2012). Vitamin Deficiencies and Excess. In: Elzouki, A.Y., Harfi, H.A., Nazer, H.M., Stapleton, F.B., Oh, W., Whitley, R.J. (eds) Textbook of Clinical Pediatrics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02202-9_57

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02202-9_57

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-02201-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-02202-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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