Scurvy disorders, unusual eating habits, alcoholism, and old people who live alone. Other risk factors include intestinal malabsorption and dialysis. Humans and certain other animals require vitamin C in their diets to make the building blocks for collagen. Diagnosis typically is based on physical signs, X-rays, and improvement after treatment. Treatment is with vitamin C supplements taken by mouth. Improvement often begins in a few days with complete recovery in a few weeks. Sources of vitamin C in the diet include citrus fruit and a number of vegetables such as tomatoes and potatoes. Cooking often decreases vitamin C in foods. Scurvy
Vitamin A deficiency 500,000 malnourished children in the developing world go blind each year from a deficiency of vitamin A, around half of whom die within a year of becoming blind. The United Nations Special Session on Children in 2002 set a goal of the elimination of VAD by 2010. The prevalence of night blindness due to VAD is also high among pregnant women in many developing countries. VAD also contributes to maternal mortality and other poor outcomes in pregnancy and lactation. VAD also diminishes the ability to fight infections. In countries where children are not immunized, infectious diseases such as measles have