ATTENTION has recently been drawn to the frequent association of eye signs attributable to deficiency of vitamin A with systemic manifestations of protein malnutrition in children (McLaren, 1958). Whilst a deficiency of the vitamin in the diet would seem to be an adequate explanation, it is possible that the eye changes may result from an adverse effect of protein lack on one or more of the sta...

OBJECTIVES To examine the relation between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and bronchiectasis (BR). METHODS Disease activity, outcome, extra-articular manifestations, and laboratory features were compared in 32 patients with BR and RA (RA-BR group), 32 matched patients with RA without BR (RA group), and 31 patients with BR but without arthritis (BR group). RESULTS In 30 of the 32 (94%) patients w...

OBJECTIVES The impact on vitamin A status of the distribution of vitamin A during national immunisation days (NIDs) has not been well established despite strong promotion by international agencies and donors. Using a pre-post design, the change in prevalence of vitamin A deficiency was examined in pre-school children in Mali. DESIGN Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted in Mopti region, ...

I to even 5%, compared with about 01% in most Western countries. Ophthalmological disorders represent not only a larger problem but also a different one: in developed countries the most common cause of blindness is degenerative or vascular disorders of the retina while in the developing countries five major diseases are responsible for most of the blindness-namely, trachoma, xerophthalmia, cata...

Nutritional blindness due to vitamin A deficiency needlessly blinds 30000 preschool-age children in Bangladesh each year. The sight of over 100000 children is threatened by corneal lesions. These figures come from a national study by Helen Keller International (HKI), the Institute of Public Health and Nutrition (IPHN), and the Programme for the Prevention of Blindness. The International Centre ...

A 24-year-old man with primary Sjögren's syndrome presented with xerophthalmia, xerostomia, and marked parotid swelling. He had a previous history of selective IgA deficiency and ulcerative colitis treated with sulphasalazine. Immunosuppression and withdrawal of sulphasalazine resulted in rapid resolution of the parotitis and disappearance of autoantibodies. A possible role for sulphasalazine i...

Six measures of nutritional status were studied in 162 consecutive cases of presumed nutritional keratopathy ranging from mild xerosis through full-thickness necrosis (keratomalacia) and in a variety of control subjects. The severity of corneal involvement was related to the severity of wasting, prevalence of edema, and serum levels of albumin, transferrin, and vitamin A. Even the most sever...

Genetic factors are the main causes of childhood blindness in developed countries (Sorsby, I966; Fraser and Friedmann, I967; Merin, Lapithis, Horowitz, and Michaelson, I972; Goldstein, 1972). In developing countries infections as causes of blindness in childhood outnumber the genetic factors (Rodger, I959; Phillips, I96I; Wilson, I962; Olurin, 1970). Malnutrition in these countries resulting in...

In recent years it has become increasingly year that vitamin A deficiency is very common ,n India. The most important result of vitamin A deficiency is blindness produced by xerophthalmia. Ophthalmologists state that there are at least two million blind persons in this country, and a large proportion of this blindness could have been prevented by the timely administration of products rich in vi...