| A | B |
|---|
| acne | a chronic inflammation of the skin's follicles and oil-producing glands |
| alpha-tocopherol | the most biologically active vitamin E compound |
| beta-carotene | an orange pigment and vitamin A precursor found in plants |
| carotenoids | pigments commonly found in plants and animals |
| chlorophyll | the green pigment of plants, which absorbs photon & transfer their energy to other molecules |
| D,L: D stands for dextro, or right handed & L stands for levo or left-handed | refers to the shape of the molecules, which are mirror images of each other |
| differentiation | development of specific function different from those of the original |
| epithelial cells | cells on the surface of the skin and mucous membranes |
| epithelial tissue | the layers of the body that serve as selective barriers between the body's interior and the environment |
| erythrocyte | red blood cell |
| erythrocyte hemolysis | the breaking open of red blood cells; a symptom of vitamin E deficiency |
| fibrocystic breast disease | a harmless condition in which the breast develop lumps, sometime assoc. with caffeine consumption |
| hair follicle | a group of cells in the skin from which a hair grows |
| hemolysis | bursting of red blood cells |
| hemophilia | a hereditary disease that has no relation to vitamin K, but is caused by a genetic defect |
| hemophilia is when the blood is unable to clot because | it lacks the ability to synthesize certain clotting factors |
| hemorrhagic disease | a disease characterized by excessive bleeding |
| hypercalcemia | high blood calcium that may develop from a variety of disorder, including vitamin D toxicity |
| intermittent claudication | severe calf pain caused by inadequate blood supply; it occurs when walking and subsides during rest |
| international units (IU) | a measure of vitamin activity |
| jaundice | yellowing of the skin, due to spillover of the bile pigments bilirubin from the liver into the general circulation |
| keratin | a water-insoluble protein; the normal protein of hair and nails |
| keratinization | accumulation of keratin in a tissue; a sign of vitamin a deficiency |
| keratomalacia | softening of the cornea seen in severe vitamin A deficiency that leads to irreversible blindness |
| lysosomes | sacs of degradative enzymes |
| mendione | a synthetic form of vitamin K |
| mineralization | the process in which calcium, phosphorus, and other minerals crystallize on the collagen matrix of a growing bone, hardening the bone |
| mucus | a class of substances secreted by the goblet cells of mucous membranes; a glycoprotein |
| mucous membranes | the membranes, composed of mucus-secreting cells, that line the surfaces of body tissues |
| muscular dystrophy | a hereditary disease in which the muscles gradually weaken; its most debilitating effects arise in the lungs |
| night blindness | slow recovery of vision after flashes of bright light at night or an inability to see in dim light; an early symptom of vitamin A deficiency |
| osteoblasts | cells that build bone |
| osteoclasts | the cells that destroy bone during growth |
| osteomalacia | a bone disease characterized by softening of the bones; symptoms include bending of the spine and bowing of the legs |
| preformed vitamin A | dietary vitamin A in its active form |
| RE (retinol equivalent) | the amount of retinol that the body will derive from a food containing preformed retinol or its precursor beta-carotene |
| remodeling | the dismantling or reformation of a structure, in this case, bone. |
| retinal | the aldehyde form of vitamin A, active in the eye |
| retinoic acid | the acid form of vitamin A |
| retinoids | chemically related compounds with biologic activity similar to retinol |
| retinol | the alcohol form of vitamin A |
| retinol-binding protein (RBP) | the specific protein responsible for transporting retinol |
| rickets | the vitamin D deficiency disease in children characterized by inadequate mineralization of bone |
| sterile | free of microorganisms, such as bacteria |
| tocopherol | a general term for several chemically related compounds, most of which have vitamin E activity |
| urethra | the tube through which urine fromt he bladder passes out of the body |
| vitamin A activity | a term useful for referring to the preformed vitamin A and carotene contents of foods w/o dist between them |
| vitamin D-refractory rickets | a rare type of rickets, not caused by vitamin D deficiency |
| xanthophylis | pigments found in plants; responsible for the color changes seen in autumn leaves |
| xerophthalmia | progressive blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency |
| xerosis | drying of the cornea; a sign of vitamin A deficiency |
