This destructive pattern had begun in elementary school, as he avoided foods with certain textures. By age 14, he went to see a doctor complaining of being tired, according to the case report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Doctors say, at the time, he was not on any special medication, had a normal BMI and height, and did not have any signs of malnutrition. Doctors did, however, discover low vitamin B12 levels and anemia, so they treated the patient with vitamin B12 injections and gave him dietary advice and guidelines.
A year later, he was experiencing some loss of hearing and vision, but doctors did not know the cause.
By 17, he was blind.
In a statement from the University of Bristol, doctors say vitamin B12 deficiency, low copper and selenium levels, a high zinc level, reduced vitamin D level and bone level density were to blame. Unfortunately, in this teen’s case, the vision damage is permanent.
Researchers from Bristol Medical School and the Bristol Eye Hospital concluded that the patient suffered nutritional optic neuropathy—a dysfunction of the optic nerve.
“In developed countries it is mostly caused by bowel problems or medication that interferes with the absorption of nutrients, and it is rarely caused entirely by poor diet because food is readily available,” reports CNN.
The condition is reversible if treated early.
“This case highlights the impact of diet on visual and physical health, and the fact that calorie intake and BMI are not reliable indicators of nutritional status,” said study lead author Denize Atan, an ophthalmologist at Bristol Medical School and Bristol Eye Hospital.
The researchers say nutritional optic neuropathy could become more common due to our high junk food intake which has low nutritional value.