TY - BOOK ID - 52475629 TI - The vitamin A story : lifting the shadow of death PY - 2012 VL - v. 104 SN - 00842230 SN - 3318021881 331802189X PB - Basel ; New York : Karger, DB - UniCat KW - Vitamin A deficiency KW - Vitamin A KW - Retinol KW - Carotenes KW - Retinoids KW - Vitamins, Fat-soluble KW - Beta carotene KW - Retinal (Visual pigment) KW - Avitaminosis KW - History. KW - Health Sciences KW - Physiology KW - Vitamin A Deficiency--history. KW - History, 19th Century. KW - Night Blindness KW - history KW - therapeutic use KW - Nutrition KW - Ophthalmology KW - Biochemistry KW - History of Medicine KW - Pediatrics KW - Public Health KW - Vitamins UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:52475629 AB - This book shows how vitamin A deficiency before the vitamin was known to scientists affected millions of people throughout history. It is a story of sailors and soldiers, penniless mothers, orphaned infants, and young children left susceptible to blindness and fatal infections. We also glimpse the fortunate ones who, with ample vitamin A-rich food, escaped this elusive stalker. Why were people going blind and dying? To unravel this puzzle, scientists around the world competed over the course of a century. Their persistent efforts led to the identification of vitamin A and its essential role in health. As a primary focus of today's international public health efforts, vitamin A has saved hundreds of thousands of lives. But, we discover, they could save many more were it not for obstacles erected by political and ideological zealots who lack a historical perspective of the problem. ER -