ABSTRACT
Vitamins, as the Latin derivation of the name implies, are essential for the maintenance of adequate health and life. They are diverse organic substances provided in small quantities in the diet and are found in a variety of chemical forms and structures. Vitamins have assorted essential biochemical roles in contributing to the maintenance of health and have unique therapeutic places in the treatment of related disorders. Vitamin A, and its derivatives, is essential for proper maintenance of visual acuity, dental development, skeletal muscle and bone growth, corticosteroid synthesis, and embryonic development and reproduction. Thiamine is essential for normal aerobic metabolism and tissue development, proper transmission of nerve impulses, and synthesis of acetylcholine. It combines with adenosine triphosphate to form thiamine pyrophosphate, the active form of thiamine. Pteroylglutamic acid is found in leafy vegetables, organ meats, and yeast. Physiologically, folic acid is required for nucleoprotein synthesis and the maintenance of hematopoiesis.
