Vitamin Other Name Deficiency Diseases

A Retinol Xeropthalmia // Keratomalacia

precursor Carotene can be turned into Vitamin A

B1 Thiamin Beriberi

B2 Riboflavin  

B3 Nicotinic acid Pellagra

B5 Pantothenic acid needed to make coenzyme A

C Ascorbic acid Scurvy

D Calciferol Rickets // Osteomalacia

E Tocopherol needed for growth and fertility

K Napthoquinone derivatives Delayed clotting & haemorrhaging

Vitamin Chemical name Solubility Recommended Deficiency disease Upper Overdose disease
 dietary
Intake
allowances
name Level
(male, age 19–
(UL/day)[8]
70)[8]

Retinoids Night-blindness
Vitamin Hypervitaminosis
(retinol, retinoids Fat 900 µg and 3,000 µg
A A
and carotenoids) Keratomalacia[9]

Vitamin
Thiamine Water 1.2 mg Beriberi N/D[10] ?
B1

Vitamin
Riboflavin Water 1.3 mg Ariboflavinosis N/D ?
B2

Vitamin
Niacin Water 16.0 mg Pellagra 35.0 mg
B3

Vitamin
Pantothenic acid Water 5.0 mg[11] Paresthesia N/D ?
B5

Vitamin Impairment of
Pyridoxine Water 1.3-1.7 mg Anemia[12] 100 mg
B6 proprioception

Vitamin
Biotin Water 30.0 µg Dermatitis N/D ?
B7

Deficiency during
pregnancy is
Vitamin associated with
Folic acid Water 400 µg 1,000 µg ?
B9 birth defects, such
as neural tube
defects
Vitamin Megaloblastic
Cyanocobalamin Water 2.4 µg N/D ?
B12 anaemia[13]

Vitamin Refer to Vitamin C

Ascorbic acid Water 90.0 mg Scurvy 2,000 mg
C megadosage

Ergocalciferol
Vitamin Rickets and Hypervitaminosis
and Fat 5.0 µg-10 µg[14] 50 µg
D Osteomalacia D
Cholecalciferol

Deficiency is very
rare; mild
Vitamin Tocopherol and
Fat 15.0 mg hemolytic anemia 1,000 mg ?
E Tocotrienol
in newborn infants.
[15]

Vitamin
Naphthoquinone Fat 120 µg Bleeding diathesis N/D ?
K

=---------------------
 

.
 Vitamin
A vitamin is an organic compound that cannot be synthesized (at all; or in quantities that meet all
needs) by a given organism and must be taken (in trace quantities) with food for that organism's
continued good health. The name was invented by the Polish biochemist Kazimierz Funk in 1912. Vita in
Latin is life and the -amin suffix is short for amine; at the time it was thought that all vitamins were
amines. This is now known to be incorrect, but the name stuck. The term vitamin is not used for
inorganic trace nutritional requirements (these are dietary minerals) or for essential fatty acids or for
essential amino acids.

Table of contents

1 Introduction
2 Vitamin deficiency diseases
3 Is vitamin D a real vitamin?
4 Vitamins A and K
5 Names
6 Whatever Happened to Vitamin F?
7 Non-human vitamins

Introduction
Vitamins were first recognised by the diseases that occur from a lack of certain foods; for
example, the British Royal Navy recognised that a constituent of limes prevented scurvy (one
result of not having enough vitamin C over an extended period of time), so limes were added to
the diet of sailors. Vitamin D prevents rickets, and so forth.

Vitamins can be divided in two groups by their solubility in water:

Water-soluble vitamins

 Ascorbic acid (vitamin C)

 Thiamine (vitamin B1)

 Riboflavin (vitamin B2)

 Niacin or nicotinic acid (vitamin B3) (also called vitamin P – for pellagra preventing)

 Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)

  Pyridoxine or pyridoxamine (vitamin B6)

 Cobalamin (vitamin B12)

 Biotin (vitamin H)

 Folic acid (vitamin M)

Fat-soluble vitamins

 Retinol (and derivatives) (vitamin A)

 Calciferol (vitamin D)

 Tocopherol (vitamin E)

 Naphthoquinone (and derivatives) (vitamin K)

Fat-soluble vitamins may be stored in the body and can cause toxicity when taken in excess; water-
soluble vitamins are not stored in the body. Unlike food, water, and – for aerobic organisms – air, an
organism can survive for some time without vitamins, although prolonged vitamin deficit results in a
disease state.

Vitamin deficiency diseases

Several diseases are caused by a lack of adequate vitamin intake. These can become severe, even
life-threatening.

Some vitamin deficiency diseases include:

Deficient
Disease
vitamin

         A          night blindness

         B1          beriberi

         B2          ariboflavinosis

         pernicious
         B12
anaemia

         niacin          pellagra

         C          scurvy

         D          rickets
Other vitamin deficiencies are simply called after the name of the vitamin, like vitamin K
deficiency disease.

Is vitamin D a real vitamin?

Vitamin D is synthetized by human body, but in quantities that are not always sufficient. The level of
synthesis depends on exposure to sunlight, so in winter and in polar areas it acts more like a vitamin,
and in summer and in equatorial areas it acts less like a vitamin. So it's usually treated as a vitamin, but
one that isn't required in some areas and seasons.

Vitamins A and K
Neither vitamin A nor vitamin K is a single chemical substance, but all derivatives fulfill the same
functions in organisms (or are converted into the active form by the organism), so taking just one of the
derivatives is sufficient for good health. The derivatives differ in chemical structure and level of activity.

Names
Some obsolete vitamin names:

 Vitamin B - actually a complex of several vitamins: B-number, H, and M.

 Vitamin G - another name for riboflavin (vitamin B2)

The usage of names in the format "vitamin letter" and "vitamin letter number" is diminishing. This is
especially true for vitamins H, M, B1, B2, B3, and B5, which are usually called by their proper chemical
names.

On the other hand, vitamins D and E are still usually called by their symbolic names, and A and
K don't even have proper chemical names (since they are mixtures of chemicals).

The names ascorbic acid and vitamin C are used with similar frequency.

Whatever Happened to Vitamin F?

Vitamin F was the designation originally given to essential fatty acids that the body cannot manufacture.
They were "de-vitaminized" because they are fatty acids. Fatty acids are a major component of fats.

Non-human vitamins
Different organisms need different trace organic substances. The list of vitamins in this article
refers to humans. Most mammals need, with few exceptions, the same vitamins (except that most
species don't need ascorbic acid). The further we go from mammals, the more diverse organisms'
requirements become. For example, some bacteria need adenine.