Niacin (nicotinic acid) can be found in many foods.
Niacin is important for the metabolism of a variety of materials in the body.
Pellagra is a nutritional disorder caused by deficiency of niacin.
Amino acid tryptophan deficiency also plays a role in the occurrence of pellagra because tryptophan can be converted to niacin.
People living areas where Indian corn (maize) is the main wheat, are at risk for suffering from pellagra because maize contains less niacin and niacin in maize triptofan.Selain it can not be absorbed in the intestine unless they are presented with a base, such as the presentation of the tortilla .
Pellagra is also a seasonal disease, which appeared in the spring and lasts during the summer.
This disease occurs in people who are food poor, which contain processed corn products.
Niacin Deficiency
Chronic alcohol drinkers have a higher risk of suffering from pellagra because the food is bad.
Pellagra also occurs in patients with Hartnup disease, a rare disease and is derived, in which the absorption of tryptophan in the intestine and kidney disorder.
To prevent the onset of symptoms, these patients require high doses of niacin.
Pellagra characterized by abnormalities in the skin, gastrointestinal tract and brain.
The first symptoms of a red area on the skin that symmetrical, similar to burns from the sun and it will get worse if exposed to sunlight (photosensitivity).
Change does not disappear and the skin will brown and scaly.
Skin symptoms are usually followed by a meal ganggnafsu and foul-smelling diarrhea and sometimes bloody.
The entire digestive tract can be affected by:
- Not able to produce enough stomach acid (aklorhidria)
- Tongue and mouth become inflamed, which then uan gastrointestinal, such as nausea, loss of color changed to dark red light.
The vagina can also be affected.
In the end, mental changes, such as fatigue, insomnia (difficulty sleeping) and apathy.
The symptoms are usually preceded by abnormal brain function (encephalopathy, such as confusion, disorientation, hallucinations, amnesia and even manic-depressive psychosis.
Diagnosis is based on history of food, the symptoms and lower levels of niacin in the urine.
Blood tests can also help diagnose.
Given high doses of niacin-amide (approximately 25 times the recommended daily dose) plus other B vitamins in high doses (10 times the recommended daily dose).
Vitamin B1, B2, B6 and pantothenic acid should be given due to lack of these vitamins may cause symptoms similar to pellagra.
EXCESS Niacin
Niacin (not niacin-amide) in doses more than 200 times the recommended daily dose, given to control high levels of fat in the blood.
Niacin as much as 200 times the recommended daily dose can cause:
- Reddish great
- Itching
- Liver damage
- Skin disorders
- Gout
- Ulcer and
- Impaired glucose tolerance.
