Table 2.

Clinical Manifestations of Nutrient Deficiencies.^*

Sign or Symptom	Potentially Depleted Nutrient
Muscle and fat wasting, weakness	Calories, protein, or both
Peripheral edema	Thiamine (heart failure), protein (low oncotic pressure)
Glossitis (discolored, smooth, or painful tongue)	Folate, vitamin B12, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, iron
Cheliosis, angular stomatitis	Riboflavin, niacin, folate, vitamin B12
Loss of vibratory or position sense, fatigue	Vitamin B12
Dermatitis (sun-exposed skin), diarrhea, dementia	Niacin (pellagra)
Symmetric motor or sensory dysfunction, ataxia, nystagmus, heart failure, mental status changes or confusion	Thiamine (beriberi)
Bleeding gums, petechiae, ecchymosis	Vitamin C, vitamin K
Poor wound healing	Calories, protein, calories and protein, vitamin C, vitamin A, zinc, other micronutrients
Bone pain	Vitamin D (osteomalacia)
Follicular hyperkeratosis, night blindness, Bitot's spots	Vitamin A
Flaky, whitish dermatitis	Essential fatty acids (linoleic, linolenic)
Sparse hair, easily pluckable hair, or both	Zinc, protein
Pale skin, nail spooning (koilonychia)	Iron
Loss of taste; reddish dermatitis around nose, mouth, and groin; hair loss	Zinc
Peripheral neuropathies, gait abnormalities, weakness, fatigue	Copper
Muscle pain, heart failure (cardiomyopathy)	Selenium
Paresthesias, carpal pedal spasm	Calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, or potassium

^*Alternatively, the signs and symptoms may have a variety of non-nutritional causes. Typically, severe deficiency of specific nutrients has occurred before physical manifestations of deficiency, with initial depletion of tissue concentrations of the nutrient, followed by decreased blood concentrations.