Blood And Vitamin K

Blood contains a variety of substances traveling around to different parts of the body. Whenever damage occurs to a certain part, certain blood cells such as macrophages and platelets group together at the affected area to stop the blood from flowing out of the vessel. This process is known as blood clotting and vitamin K plays a great role in this normal process of coagulation.

Vitamin K needs fat in order to perform its need function since it is vital for vitamin K to have fat for its absorption. Those naturally occurring vitamin K derivatives are often absorbed in the presence only of bile salts. They go first to the liver to accumulate then go out to all parts of the body.

There are several blood clotting factors circulating in the blood, 13 to be exact but only 4 factors that need the liver for its initial synthesis are dependent on the presence of vitamin K. These clotting factors, namely factor II, factor VII, factor IX, and factor X need vitamin K to act during the cascade of events when clotting occurs.

Since vitamin K is vital for the body to perform its function, it has its own cycle in the liver that allows it to be regenerated from its derivatives. The production of vitamin K through this cycle is also important as an antidote for poisoning due to drugs using dicumarol. Even if it inhibits one phase of the cycle, it can bypass this phase to proceed to the synthesis of vitamin K. In fact, vitamin K has been seen to be part of the synthesis of bone proteins.

Vitamin K is quite important in the propagation of clotting whenever needed. As a matter of fact, its production occurs in the intestinal microflora to make sure that the body does not have a deficiency for it. Unfortunately, for newborns, they are not yet able to produce their own vitamin K at once, thus becoming vulnerable to a deficiency in vitamin K. A reason for this may be that vitamin K does not cross the maternal placenta to reach the blood stream of the fetus. Normally, although these levels drop, it recovers as soon as the food given is absorbed by the body. Unfortunately, there are times that the infant struggles to recover from this deficiency so symptoms pointing to hemorrhagic syndrome to occur.

Vitamin K needs fat to be absorbed by the body. Whenever fat absorption is affected, blood coagulation also takes a hit. Those times that a problem with fat absorption occurs are during several conditions such as biliary disease, steatorrhea, and an atrophy of the intestinal mucosa. Also, the taking of antibiotics that tend to sterilize the large intestine may result in a deficiency in vitamin K in the body.

Vitamin K is such an important vitamin to have in the body with a lot of functions. It is quite frustrating to find out that due to avoiding fat in the diet, the body also becomes weak from lack of fat which is responsible in the absorption of several important vitamins.