letters.VRG's MEMORIAL AND HONORARY GIFT PROGRAM How often have you wanted to make a gift in honor of a loved one or friend, but weren't sure which charities are vegetarian friendly, pro-environmental, or pro-animal rights? Please remember The Vegetarian Resource Group. You can make a gift in memory of a loved one or as a living tribute to honor someone you care about on a special occasion, such as a wedding or birth. We'll send an acknowledgement to you and the person or family you choose. Your gift will support educational outreach programs and help promote vegetarianism vegetarianism, theory and practice of eating only fruits and vegetables, thus excluding animal flesh, fish, or fowl and often butter, eggs, and milk. In a strict vegetarian, or vegan, diet (i.e. . Memorials & Honorary Gifts In memory of: -- In honor of: -- Please send acknowledgement to: -- Name: -- Address: -- My Name and Address: -- Name: -- Address: -- Make checks payable to The Vegetarian Resource Group, PO Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203. VRG VRG Varig (Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandense, Brazil, ICAO code) VRG Vegetarian Resource Group VRG Ventral Respiratory Group VRG Vaccinia-Rabies Glycoprotein (gene) VRG Vision Research Group VRG Vortex Ring Gun DIETITIAN REVIEWS NEJM NEJM New England Journal of Medicine LETTER TO THE EDITOR ABOUT BLINDNESS IN VEGANS French physicians recently contacted the New England Journal of Medicine The New England Journal of Medicine (New Engl J Med or NEJM) is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is one of the most popular and widely-read peer-reviewed general medical journals in the world. to report a case of a 33-year-old male vegan who had become irreversibly blind because of damage to his optic nerves. Their report was published in the form of a letter to the editor entitled "Blindness in a Strict Vegan." They attributed the blindness to vitamin deficiencies due to the man's vegan diet, specifically to deficiencies of vitamin [B.sub.12] and thiamin thiamin or vitamin B1 Organic compound, part of the vitamin B complex, necessary in carbohydrate metabolism. It carries out these functions in its active form, as a component of the coenzyme thiamin pyrophosphate. . The man also had deficiencies of folate folate /fo·late/ (fo´lat) 1. the anionic form of folic acid. 2. more generally, any of a group of substances containing a form of pteroic acid conjugated with l-glutamic acid and having a variety of substitutions. , vitamins A, C, D, and E, zinc, and selenium selenium (səlē`nēəm), nonmetallic chemical element; symbol Se; at. no. 34; at. wt. 78.96; m.p. 217°C;; b.p. about 685°C;; sp. gr. 4.81 at 20°C;; valence −2, +4, or +6. . Unfortunately, due to space requirements, more information about the man's diet was not provided in the letter. Apparently the man was not following a typical vegan diet. Vegan diets are generally quite high in folate, vitamin A, and vitamin C mainly from fruits and vegetables, and contain adequate amounts of thiamin and vitamin E, so deficiencies of these nutrients would not be expected. Certainly, all vegans should choose reliable sources of all nutrients, including vitamin [B.sub.12]. We do not know if this vegan was choosing foods and supplements which are reliable sources of vitamin [B.sub.12]. Additional information about his dietary habits is critical to the research into the true cause of his blindness. It is inaccurate to simply attribute his blindness to a vegan diet. Milea D, Cassoux N, LeHoang P. 2000. Blindness in a strict vegan. N Engl J Med 342:897-8 Reed Mangels mangels Beta vulgaris; called also mangel-wurzel. , PhD, RD HAPPY TO HAVE FOUND <WWW WWW or W3: see World Wide Web. (World Wide Web) The common host name for a Web server. The "www-dot" prefix on Web addresses is widely used to provide a recognizable way of identifying a Web site. .VRG.ORG> As a 30-year-old vegetarian wife, and mother of two pre-teen vegetarian girls, I cannot tell you what a relief it was to have stumbled upon your website! I have been a "veggie-head" for only a year now, so my quest for health information, creative recipes, etc., is one of great importance to me. I absolutely love the fact that we are now part of the vegetarian population, but I really worry about several issues. Thank you so much for providing folks like me with free information to help make our choice to not eat meat even more enjoyable ... and educational! Dawn Garcia via e-mail Been "surfing" around the web trying to locate good vegetarian stuff--surprised to find the perfect one in a senior's location. I am a senior, was just checking this new site out, thanks so much, glad to have found you. Kathy M via e-mail |
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