levels of vitamin A and Carotene
Tamara
> Several years ago when we were being advised to have our kids checked for
> Thyroid, Vit. A, and Carotene the ped charged me big $ for the time that
we
> spent arguing about this simple blood test.
Do kids with ds have a tendancy to have low levels of vitamin A and
Carotene?
Should I be worried about getting Isabela checked? Any lastly what is the
significance
of having lower levels? THANKS, Tamara
Len Leshin
There have been many studies that have looked at this and it appears there
is a small percentage of children with DS that do have low levels of
vitamin A. At one time, parents were advised to have blood levels of
vitamin A checked; however, as more studies indicated this was not a
typical finding in children with DS, the recommendation was withdrawn.
One study did show a subset of children with high beta-carotene levels.
Since beta-carotene is converted by the body to vitamin A, a few
researchers have speculated that some children with DS may have difficulty
converting beta-carotene to vitamin A; but this has not been proven. (This
difficulty is seen in hypothyroidism, also.)
Children with low vitamin A levels have dry, scaly skin, hyperkeratosis
(thickening of the skin around the follicles), irritation of the eyelids
("blepharitis"), and night blindness or impaired night vision. It's
important to note that adequate levels of zinc are needed for vitamin A
metabolism, so if you're concerned about your child's vitamin A levels,
have a zinc blood test done at the same time. (Both should be done while
the child is fasting.)
Len L
Father to Avi, 3 (DS) and Nathan, 5
mailto:lle...@davlin.net
"When I was young I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire
kind people."
---Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
Shervin Churchill
Len wrote:
> ........................................................... It's
> important to note that adequate levels of zinc are needed for vitamin A
> metabolism, so if you're concerned about your child's vitamin A levels,
> have a zinc blood test done at the same time. (Both should be done while
> the child is fasting.)
>
>
Len,
I am more concerned about my son getting enough zinc in his diet.
So I have two questions:
1-If an 18 month old gets orange palms and feet from eating too
much orange vegies, does it mean that for sure he is metabolizing the
vitamin A? (or is the Beta Carotene just accumulating in the wrong
places and the rest of the body is missing it)
2-If this (getting orange palms) is a sign that he *is* metabolizing
the vitamin A, can I assume that he is getting enough zinc?
About a month ago the nutritionist at my son's preschool brought to
my attention that Brandon has orange palms. So now he is having
less of carrots and squash and more of green beans and Broccoli.
And the orangeness is decreasing.
As always thanks for being here and answering our questions.
Shervin, mother of Berkeley, first grade, and Brandon (DS) 18 mo, who
has been taking his first steps these days, 3 steps at a time so far
without holding on to anything.
Len Leshin
At 10:19 PM 4/9/97 -0400, Shervin Churchill wrote:
>Len,
>
>I am more concerned about my son getting enough zinc in his diet.
>So I have two questions:
>
>1-If an 18 month old gets orange palms and feet from eating too
>much orange vegies, does it mean that for sure he is metabolizing the
>vitamin A? (or is the Beta Carotene just accumulating in the wrong
>places and the rest of the body is missing it)
All it means is that there's an increase in beta-carotene in the body, and
the skin is just where the excess ends up. The only way to know if the
body is (a) converting the carotene to vitamin A correctly and there's just
more than enough carotene, or (b) not able to convert carotene correctly to
vitamin A is: get a fasting blood test for vitamin A.
>2-If this (getting orange palms) is a sign that he *is* metabolizing
>the vitamin A, can I assume that he is getting enough zinc?
The only way to know if he has enough zinc is to get a fasting blood zinc
test.
>About a month ago the nutritionist at my son's preschool brought to
>my attention that Brandon has orange palms. So now he is having
>less of carrots and squash and more of green beans and Broccoli.
>And the orangeness is decreasing.
>
>As always thanks for being here and answering our questions.
My pleasure. :-)