In 1997, five million children developed xerophthalmia, a medical condition caused by vitamin A deficiency, in Southeast Asia alone.
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Goblet cells are responsible for secretion of mucus, and their absence results in xerophthalmia, a condition where the eyes fail to produce tears.
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Xerophthalmia is a term that usually implies a destructive dryness of the conjunctival epithelium due to dietary vitamin A deficiency a rare condition in developed countries, but still causing much damage in developing countries.
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According to the agency, about 40 million children under five years old suffer from vitamin A deficiency, possibly a third of whom as a result have the eye disease xerophthalmia, which can lead to blindness and death.
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In 2005, 190 million children and 19 million pregnant women, in 122 countries, were estimated to be affected by VAD . VAD is responsible for 1 2 million deaths, 500, 000 cases of irreversible blindness and millions of cases of xerophthalmia annually.
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Xerophthalmia usually affects children under nine years old and " accounts for 20, 000-100, 000 new cases of childhood blindness each year in the developing countries . " The disease is largely found in developing countries like many of those in Africa and Southern Asia.
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Xerophthalmia from " hypovitaminosis A " is specifically due to lack of the hormone-like vitamin A metabolite retinoic acid, since ( along with certain growth-stunting effects ) the condition can be reversed in vitamin A deficient rats by retinoic acid supplementation ( however the retinal damage continues ).
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The damage to the cornea in vitamin A associated xerophthalmia is quite different from damage to the retina at the back of the globe, a type of damage which can also be due to lack of vitamin A, but which is caused by lack of other forms of vitamin A which work in the visual system.
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Infection is very draining on vitamin A reserves and this vitamin A deficit leaves the individual more susceptible to infection ( Combs, 1991 ); increased documentation of xerophthalmia has been seen after an outbreak of measles and the varying stages of xerophthalmia become a good reference point for the extent of deficiency ( with mortality increasing with severity of the eye disease ).
