{"id":11022,"date":"2026-11-11T11:34:55","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T06:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=11022"},"modified":"2026-11-11T14:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T09:21:17","slug":"vitamin-k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/vitamin-k\/","title":{"rendered":"Vitamin K Deficiency: How Modern Diets Affect Blood Clotting and Bone Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Vitamin K Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A 347% increase has been witnessed in the number of newborns suffering from the Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding (VKDB) in the US between 2017 and 2025, a new study has found.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Vitamin K<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a<\/span><b> fat-soluble<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> vitamin that comes in <\/span><b>two forms.\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>main type <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is called <\/span><b>phylloquinone (Vitamin K1),<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> found in <\/span><b>green leafy vegetables<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like collard greens, kale, and spinach.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The other type, menaquinones (Vitamin K2), are found in <\/span><b>some animal foods<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>fermented foods.\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Menaquinones <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can also be<\/span><b> produced by bacteria in the human body.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Function:\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vitamin K is known as the <\/span><b>clotting vitamin.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The body needs vitamin K to<\/span><b> make certain proteins<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the liver that <\/span><b>cause blood to clot.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> These proteins are called <\/span><b>clotting factors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Prothrombin<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a<\/span><b> vitamin K-dependent protein<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> directly <\/span><b>involved with blood clotting.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vitamin K helps <\/span><b>maintain strong bones<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in older adults. <\/span><b>Osteocalcin<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a <\/span><b>protein <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that <\/span><b>requires vitamin K to produce healthy bone tissue.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Researchers suggest that this vitamin has other benefits too, such as <\/span><b>easing morning sickness<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>protecting cognitive functions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including thinking, memory, learning, and organizing skills.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It may also help <\/span><b>protect heart health.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your body <\/span><b>stores <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">vitamin K in the<\/span><b> liver and other body tissues, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">including the brain, heart, pancreas, and bone.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is <\/span><b>broken down very quickly <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and<\/span><b> excreted in urine or stool.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because of this, it <\/span><b>rarely reaches toxic levels<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the body even with high intakes, as may sometimes occur with other fat-soluble vitamins.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vitamin K <\/span><b>deficiency in adults is rare<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> but may <\/span><b>occur in people taking medications <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that <\/span><b>block vitamin K metabolism,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> such as<\/span><b> antibiotics,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or in those with conditions that cause malabsorption of food and nutrients.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What is Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding (VKDB)?<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is also known as <\/span><b>haemorrhagic disease of the newborn<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a <\/span><b>bleeding disorder<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> caused in babies when they don&#8217;t have enough vitamin K to help their blood to clot.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Newborns have low levels of vitamin K<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> due to<\/span><b> low amounts being transferred across the placenta<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> during pregnancy, <\/span><b>low amounts in breast milk,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>not having enough gut bacteria <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to create vitamin K initially.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The limited amount of blood clotting proteins at birth <\/span><b>increases the risk of bleeding<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in infants <\/span><b>if they are not given vitamin K supplements. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>bleeding <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can occur <\/span><b>anywhere on the inside or outside<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the <\/span><b>body<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. When the bleeding occurs inside the body, it can be difficult to notice.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Commonly, a baby with VKDB will have bleeding into their intestines or into their brain, which can lead to brain damage and even death.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Infants who do not receive<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the <\/span><b>vitamin K shot <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">at birth can <\/span><b>develop VKDB at any time up to 6 months of age. <\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/news\/international\/us\/what-is-vitamin-k-deficiency-bleeding-and-why-does-it-occur-in-newborns-heres-what-the-new-study-found\/articleshow\/135714299.cms?from=mdr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>ET<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vitamin K deficiency is drawing attention as modern diets often lack leafy greens and fermented foods. Learn how low Vitamin K levels can affect blood clotting and bone health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":73990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21,22,23],"class_list":["post-11022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","tag-prelims-pointers","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11022"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132665,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11022\/revisions\/132665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}