Vitamin C Deficiency Causes
Primary vitamin C deficiency cause in adults is inadequate or poor diet. Vitamin C deficiency arises mainly due to poor dietary habits and relying solely on processed foods, not consuming enough fresh fruits and vegetables. The requirement for vitamin C gets double due to inflammatory diseases, smoking, febrile illnesses, iron deficiency, burns, surgery, hyperthyroidism, achlorhydria, protein deficiency, and cold or heat stress. However, sometimes some food handling techniques can also hinder the availability of vitamin C to your body and lead to vitamin C deficiency. Heat either by cooking or sterilization of ingredients can lead to the destruction of vitamin C in food.
In case of vitamin C deficiency, defects arise in the formation of intercellular joining substances in bones, dentin, and connective tissues. Therefore, vitamin C deficiency can cause fragile capillaries with frequent hemorrhages and defects in dentin or bones. Bone tissue formation also suffer impairment in children which consequently leads to poor bone growth and bone lesions. Fibrous tissues forming between the epiphysis and diaphysis junctions, and costochondral junction swell in size. Consequently, dense calcified fragments made of cartilage start embedding in the fibrous tissues which then leads to sub-periosteal hemorrhages in children or adults due to small fractures.