Blindness Caused by a Junk Food Diet
Authors: Alison M.R. Castle, Pranesh Chakraborty, Michael Geraghty
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2020)

Letters21 April 2020Blindness Caused by a Junk Food DietAlison M.R. Castle, BSc, MD, Pranesh Chakraborty, MD, and Michael Geraghty, MB, MScAlison M.R. Castle, BSc, MDChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (A.M.C., P.C., M.G.)Search for more papers by this author, Pranesh Chakraborty, MDChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (A.M.C., P.C., M.G.)Search for more papers by this author, and Michael Geraghty, MB, MScChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (A.M.C., P.C., M.G.)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L20-0015 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Harrison and colleagues' case report (1) first came to our attention because of the extensive media coverage it received. We appreciate the public discussion on healthy dietary choices and nutritional deficiencies that it has incited. However, we caution the authors about their diagnosis of nutritional optic neuropathy. They base their diagnosis on the patient's elevated levels of homocysteine (Hcy) and methylmalonic acid (MMA) in the context of a history of vitamin B12 (cobalamin) levels in the lower range of normal. Although metabolism of both Hcy and MMA is vitamin B12 dependent and elevations of these levels can ...References1. Harrison R, Warburton V, Lux A, et al. Blindness caused by a junk food diet. Ann Intern Med. 2019;171:859-61. [PMID: 31476767]. doi:10.7326/L19-0361 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Stabler SP. Clinical practice. Vitamin B12 deficiency. N Engl J Med. 2013;368:149-60. [PMID: 23301732] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Sloan JL, Carrillo N, Adams D, et al. Disorders of intracellular cobalamin metabolism. In: Adam MP, Ardinger HH, Pagon RA, et al, eds. GeneReviews. Seattle: University of Washington, Seattle; 1993. Google Scholar4. Trakadis YJ, Alfares A, Bodamer OA, et al. Utiate on transcobalamin deficiency: clinical presentation, treatment and outcome. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2014;37:461-73. [PMID: 24305960] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Huemer M, Scholl-Bürgi S, Hadaya K, et al. Three new cases of late-onset cblC defect and review of the literature illustrating when to consider inborn errors of metabolism beyond infancy. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2014;9:161. [PMID: 25398587] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (A.M.C., P.C., M.G.)Disclosures: Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L20-0015. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoBlindness Caused by a Junk Food Diet Rhys Harrison , Vicki Warburton , Andrew Lux , and Denize Atan Blindness Caused by a Junk Food Diet Rhys Harrison , Vicki Warburton , Andrew Lux , and Denize Atan Metrics Cited by58. Case Report 21 April 2020Volume 172, Issue 8Page: 575KeywordsCobalaminsInborn errors of metabolismMutationNutritionOptic neuropathyPrevention, policy, and public healthRetinopathyVisionVitamin B12 deficiencyVitamin D deficiency ePublished: 21 April 2020 Issue Published: 21 April 2020 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2020 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...