Fitness

Through the years I have been consulted by dozens of girls whose faces are covered with pimples; often they tell me they have never had skin trouble until recently. Invariably I find they are doing office work, usually under fluorescent lights, and the continuous use of their eyes, together with the glare and reflection from white paper, has greatly increased their need for vitamin A. I can often tell them how long they have been in their jobs-approximately four months previous to the onset of the pimples.  When vitamin A is undersupplied, the hair becomes dry and lacks sheen and luster. Dandruff usually accumulates on the scalp. The nails may be affected and peel easily or become ridged.  Simultaneously with the visual difficulties and the changes in the skin, a vitamin-A deficiency allows abnormalities to occur in the tissues spoken of as mucous membranes. These tissues line the body cavities such as the throat, nose, sinuses, middle ears, lungs, the gall bladder, and the urinary bladder. If the diet is adequate in vitamin A, these membranes continuously secrete a liquid, or mucus, which covers the cells and prevents bacteria from reaching them and also cleanses the surface. Furthermore, bacteria cannot live in mucus, Worn tissues are digested by enzymes, and the wastes are removed; therefore healthy tissues contain no accumulation of dead cells. Because of substances known as antienzymes which counteract the effect of the enzymes produced by bacteria, live cells can protect themselves from bacterial destruction. Millions of bacteria find their way to these healthy tissues but cannot reach the cells because of the mucus covering or are made ineffective by the mucus; they are offered no food and/or are rendered harmless by the antienzymes. Since they cannot get a foothold, no infection occurs.  Individuals deficient in vitamin A allow conditions ideal for bacterial growth to be set up in their bodies; bacteria Can grow only when they are provided with warmth, moisture, and food. Dr. Wolbach of the Harvard School of Medicine points out that during vitamin-A deficiency the cells of the mucous membranes grow more rapidly than usual but quickly die. These cells are crowded forward by other rapidly growing cells which likewise die until there accumulates a cheesy-like surface of layer upon layer of packed, dead cells. Since dead cells cannot secrete mucus or produce antienzymes, their surface is no longer washed and their self-protective mechanisms are gone. Heat, moisture, and a continually replenished food supply combine to set up conditions ideal for bacterial growth; bacteria themselves are ever present. Infections are usually the result.  Changes in the mucous membranes occur early in the bronchial tubes and lungs, where air sacs may be completely plugged with dead cells, and in the middle ears, sinuses, kidneys, urinary bladder, and prostate gland. What has been described as an “accumulation of profuse debris” may cause irritation or obstruct narrow ducts, such as those from the salivary gland or the pancreas; the mouth may become dry; the pancreatic juices may fail to reach the intestine. Dead cells from the uterus and vagina may slough off, causing leucorrhea, often accompanied by profuse menstruation. Cysts may be formed around the accumulated dead cells in almost any part of the body.