Vitamin A
Effective for:
- Vitamin A deficiency. Taking vitamin A by mouth is effective for preventing and treating symptoms of vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency can occur in people with protein deficiency, diabetes, over-active thyroid, fever, liver disease, cystic fibrosis, or an inherited disorder called abetalipoproteinemia.
Possibly Effective for:
- Breast cancer. Premenopausal women with a family history of breast cancer who consume high levels of vitamin A in their diet seem to have reduced risk of developing breast cancer. It is not known if taking vitamin A supplements has the same benefit.
- Cataracts. Research suggests that high intake of vitamin A in the diet is linked to a lower risk of developing cataracts.
- Diarrhea related to HIV. Taking vitamin A along with conventional medicines seems to decrease the risk of death from diarrhea in HIV-positive children with vitamin A deficiency.
- Malaria. Taking vitamin A by mouth seems to decrease malaria symptoms in children less than 3 years-old living in areas where malaria is common.
- Measles. Taking vitamin A by mouth seems to reduce the risk of measles complications or death in children with measles and vitamin A deficiency.
- Precancerous lesions in the mouth (oral leukoplakia). Research suggests that taking vitamin A can help treat precancerous lesions in the mouth.
- Recovery from laser eye surgery (photoreactive keratectomy). Taking vitamin A by mouth along with vitamin E seems to improve healing after laser eye surgery.
- Complications after pregnancy. Taking vitamin A seems to reduce the risk of diarrhea and fever after pregnancy in malnourished women.
- Complications during pregnancy. Taking vitamin A by mouth seems to reduce the risk of death and night blindness during pregnancy in malnourished women.
- Eye disease affecting the retina (retinitis pigmentosa). Research suggests that taking vitamin A can slow the progression of an eye disease that causes damage to the retina.
There are no products to list in this category.