How much should you know about
Vitamin B12 Deficiency?
Vitamin B12 Deficiency is a very significant blood disorder that is characterised by the inability of the body to absorb and/or properly utilize Vitamin B12 which is absolutely imperative for the healthy development of red blood cells.
Vitamin B12 Deficiency can be sneaky and very harmful, but it is a rather common disorder that is often age related and is far too frequently undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
The topic of Vitamin B12 is vast.
This website is intended to raise awareness, to educate and to archive & share vital information about many aspects of Vitamin B12 Deficiency.
(As well as to provide an easy and reliable source of links to key reference material )
In 1948 scientists, searching a cause and cure for pernicious anemia isolated cobalamin, a red crystalline compound, and named it
Vitamin B12.
It is a primordial molecule responsible for the health of all the DNA in
our cells.
Vitamin B12 is required for proper red blood cell formation,
neurological function, and DNA synthesis.
B12 deficiency affects every organ in the body, including the brain,
blood, digestion, bowel, bladder, vision, and the entire nervous system.
The body also requires B12 to make the protective coating (myelin sheath) surrounding the
nerves. Inadequate B12 will expose nerves to damage which can be the cause of many neurological symptoms.
A careful look at 3,000 men and women in the ongoing Framingham
Offspring Study found almost 40% with plasma B12 levels in the “low normal”
range.
In the elderly, it’s probably because they don’t secrete enough stomach
acid to separate the vitamin B12 from the meat proteins that tightly bind
it. This can be further exacerbated by long term use of medications for heartburn or ulcers such as PPI’s (Omeprazole ‘Losec’) or antacids.
Normally, the average young (non-vegetarian) individual will absorb
sufficient Vitamin B12 from a healthy diet and their serum B12 blood test will
probably register at or above 500 pmol/L.
From about age 60 the ability to absorb sufficient Vitamin B12 from a healthy diet may become compromised due to a number of common factors.
Vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms may only start to become obvious once
the B12 deficient supply via your diet leads to the emptying of the body's B12 reserves that are stored in the
liver.
Unfortunately, far too many of us (and many physicians) are blissfully
unaware of the importance of maintaining vital and essential cellular levels of Vitamin B12.
Most people are probably very aware that Vitamin C deficiency must always be
avoided hence cases of scurvy are almost unheard of nowadays.
However, Vitamin B12 deficiency has been described as a silent epidemic
due to the condition often being undiagnosed and too frequently misdiagnosed
If you fail to request an annual serum B12 blood test you may be totally unaware of potential health and fitness issues as your body can spontaneously and without your knowledge begin to use the 5-7 years reserves of Vitamin B12 that are normally stored in your liver.
Maintaining satisfactory levels of B12 is absolutely vital for the body to be able
to produce healthy red blood cells capable of transporting adequate oxygen to
all organs and tissues.
Once the emptying of the body's B12 reserves stored in the liver begins, then mild
symptoms such as fatigue, exhaustion, dizziness, susceptibility to infections,
mood swings etc may begin to present.
If untreated eventually the body's reserve stores of B12 will become totally depleted and without timely medical intervention severe symptoms such as anxiety, depression, tingling, nerve
pain, numb limbs, balance, co-ordination, impaired cognition, memory loss,
dementia and a myriad of other indicators become apparent.
Simply watching the first 3 minutes of this essential documentary film will
make it clear just how serious B12 deficiency is and how misdiagnosis can
occur.
Know the
signs and symptoms.
You could be
deficient yet still test in the so-called range of "normal B12" on a
blood test.
Especially
if you have taken an oral B12 supplement of uncertain quality, or you have been
under-treating the deficiency.
Oral B12
supplements do not work for all patients;
Patients
with digestive/absorption problems benefit from B12 injections, as do patients
with nerve damage.
Note:
On the right-hand sidebar there are these three headings >>>>>
No.1 - PAGES INDEX: Clicking on any of these pages will
take you to that topic
The vast array of relevant Vitamin B12 deficiency data available
now days can easily become overwhelming
The best method of circulating essential information seems to be by dedicating a separate page to each topic
Click on any of the pages to view that specific topic
No.2 - YOUTUBE VIDEO links to vital information you do need to know about Vitamin B12 Deficiency
YOUTUBE VIDEOS are increasingly becoming a reliable source
of accurate and useful Vitamin B12 deficiency information.
The YOUTUBE links provided here represent a good sample of
what is now available
No.3 - Useful website LINKS to many more things you should
know about Vitamin B12 Deficiency
The amount of Vitamin B12 deficiency and related information
available via the internet is massive.
We have endeavoured to provide these quick links to several
reputable websites we have found to be very useful.
It is essential you get a B12 blood test first to establish your Vitamin B12 serum level.
Please don’t take any B12 supplement before you’ve seen your GP.
Any Vitamin B12 supplements will skew, and may invalidate your blood test results!
Getting a sound knowledge and having easy
access to accurate information are vital keys to overcoming a Vitamin B12
deficiency
Having spent countless hours researching and collating information
on this crucial Vitamin B12 deficiency topic it would be irresponsible to not share some
of this invaluable data.
Like too many others unknowingly suffering from B12 deficiency, I had nil knowledge about the
absolute necessity of always maintaining a healthy level of Vitamin B12
For some illogical reason, a blood test for serum B12 levels has to be specifically
requested and is not included as part of any routine blood tests (CBC or Complete
Blood Count)
Another serious concern is that the alert levels for serum
B12 are set quite low and by the time your GP receives a below normal result
you may already be experiencing B12 deficiency symptoms
Japan’s low-normal for B12 is 500-550 pmol/L because at lower levels dementia and memory loss can appear.
Any Vitamin B12 level below 500 pmol/L should raise concern and with any level below 350 pmol/L B12 supplementation should be recommended
The best way to further evaluate a low-normal B12 level is to check serum homocysteine and methylmalonic acid levels
Are you aware that the normal ability to absorb B12 from a well-balanced diet can insidiously fail without warning and may have disastrous consequences?
The fact that your liver does normally store several years
of B12 reserves only becomes apparent after you have begun to run out of these
B12 reserves.
If you have not had your serum B12 levels tested you may be totally unaware of a possible insidious and serious disorder lurking.
Did you know that the inability to absorb B12 from a well-balanced
diet can be caused by a multitude of reasons?
Poor absorption of vitamin B12 may
be due to:
- People
aged 60 or over = TMB (Too many birthdays)
- Long
term use of medications for heartburn or ulcers such as PPI’s (Omeprazole ‘Losec’)
or antacids
- Previous
surgery that removed portions of the stomach or small intestine
- Bowel
disease, such as Crohn disease, celiac disease or a parasitic infection
- Lack
of an essential protein called "intrinsic factor" — This protein
is required to absorb vitamin B12 from the diet;
- Alcoholism
An autoimmune condition
(called pernicious anemia) develops when the immune system mistakenly attacks
the cells that produce “intrinsic factor”.
