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Common Micronutrient Deficiency Diseases


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Anaemia


Micronutrient deficiency disease          Anaemia 
Nutrient deficiency                               Iron deficiency 


Clinical signs and symptoms of the disease :

  • Pale conjunctivae (inner eyelid), nailbeds, gums, tongue, lips and skin
  • Tiredness
  • Headaches
  • Breathlessness 

Populations at risk of becoming deficient 

  • Populations from regions where malaria and intestinal parasitic infestation are prevalent
  • The most at risk groups are women of child-bearing age and young children 

Preventive behaviours for a healthy family 

  • Increase Iron intake:
    • Eat iron-rich vegetables like cowpeas, spinach, millet, beans, pulses, pumpkin seeds and other greens
    • Eat meat like beef, liver, goat or chicken
    • Eat "iron helpers" such as guava, oranges, lemon or little meat to help your body use the iron
    • Try not to eat "iron blockers" like tea, coffee and milk for one hour before and one hour after eating an iron-rich meal
  • Prevent malaria:
    • Sleep under treated mosquito nets
    • Get treated for malaria immediately
  • Prevent hookworm:
    • Take de-worming tablets twice a year
    • Wear shoes to avoid hookworm
    • Dispose faeces properly
    • Wash your hands and your nails thoroughly before preparing food and eating
  • Take iron tablets as directed by a health worker:
    • Pregnant women should take one tablet of iron and folic acid every day for six months 

Goitre and Cretinism


Micronutrient deficiency disease          Goitre and Cretinism 
Nutrient deficiency                               Iodine deficiency 


Clinical signs and symptoms of the disease 

  • Goitre:
    • Grade 0: No palpable (can't feel) or visibly enlarged thyroid
    • Grade 1: A palpable but not visibly enlarged thyroid with neck in normal position
    • Grade 2: A palpably and visibly enlarged thyroid with neck in normal position 
  • Cretinism:
    • Neurological cretinism:
    • Mental deficiency
    • Deaf mutism
    • Spasticity
    • Ataxia (lack of muscular coordination)
  • Hypothyroid cretinism:
    • Dwarfism
    • Hypothyroidism 

Populations at risk of becoming deficient 

  • Populations from mountainous areas where there is limited access to seafoods and iodised salt
  • Goitre is highest in adolescence, particularly girls 

Preventive behaviours for a healthy family 

  • Purchase packaged iodized salt
  • Store packaged iodized salt faraway from heat and from moisture
  • Add salt before serving the food 

Xerohthalmia

Nutrient deficiency                     Vitamin A deficiency 
                  Bitot's Spot
            Corneal Ulcerations - Keratomalacia


Clinical signs and symptoms of the disease 

  • Night blindness
  • Eye dryness accompanied by foamy accumulations on the conjunctiva (inner eyelids), that often appear near the outer edge of the iris (Bitot's spots)
  • Eye dryness, dullness or clouding (milky appearance) of the cornea (corneal xerosis)
  • Eye softening and ulceration of the cornea (keratomalacia). This is sometimes followed by perforation of the cornea, which leads to the loss of eye contents and permanent blindness 

Populations at risk of becoming deficient 

  • Populations who have no access to fresh fruit and vegetables
  • Children suffering from measles, diarrhoea, respiratory infections, chickenpox and other severe infections are at increased risk 

Preventive behaviours for a healthy family 

  • Increase Vitamin A intake through consumption of yellow and orange fruits and vegetables
  • Mothers should take Vitamin A within 8 weeks after giving birth (200,000 IU)
  • Children from 6 to 59 months should get Vitamin A supplementation orally every six months. (6 months - 1 year; 100,000 IU, >1 year; 200,000 IU)
  • Infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months and continue to be breastfed up to twenty-four months 

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