aetiology
Last reviewed 01/2018
Body sources of vitamin K are low. Deficiency may develop within one week. The causes are those factors which interfere with the normal sources of the vitamin:
- poor diet or starvation
- malabsorption - especially due to bile salt deficiency
- primary liver disease
- broad spectrum antibiotics - suppress normal colonic flora; commonly occurs post-operatively
- premature birth: due to the absence of bacteria in the gut which normally synthesize vitamin K2 in adults