Vitamin B12 Deficiency
One of the early tests they performed on me was to see if I had a Vitamin B12 deficiency.
Vitamin B12 also called cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin that is involved in the metabolism of every cell of the human body: it is a cofactor in DNA synthesis and in both fatty acid and amino acid metabolism. It is particularly important in the normal functioning of the nervous system via its role in the synthesis of myelin, and in the maturation of developing red blood cells in the bone marrow.
Vitamin B12 is one of eight B vitamins; it is the largest and most structurally complicated vitamin. Thank you, Wikipedia for that great explanation.
What harm can having too little vitamin B12 do? Consider this: Over the course of two months, a 62-year-old man developed numbness and a “pins and needles” sensation in his hands, had trouble walking, experienced severe joint pain, began turning yellow, and became progressively short of breath. The cause was a lack of vitamin B12 in his bloodstream, according to a case report from Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital published in The New England Journal of Medicine. It could have been worse—a severe vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to deep depression, paranoia and delusions, memory loss, incontinence, loss of taste and smell, and more.
Since your body doesn’t make vitamin B12, you have to get it from animal-based foods or from supplements. And you should do that on a regular basis because your body doesn’t store vitamin B12 for a long time.
Animal sources include dairy products, eggs, fish, meat, and poultry. If you’re looking for food fortified with B12, check the product’s Nutrition Facts label.
- The elderly
- Those who’ve had surgery that removes the part of the bowel that absorbs B12
- People on the drug metformin for diabetes
- People following a strict vegan diet
- Those taking long-term antacid drugs for heartburn
Vitamin B12 deficiency can be slow to develop, causing symptoms to appear gradually and intensify over time. It can also come on relatively quickly. Given the array of symptoms, it can cause, the condition can be overlooked or confused with something else. Vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms may include:
- Numbness in the hands, legs, or feet
- Sensations of Pins and Needles in the hands, legs, or feet
- Changes to Mobility such as difficulty walking, staggering or balance problems
- Anemia
- Glossitis and Mouth Ulcers
- A swollen, inflamed tongue
- difficulty thinking and reasoning (cognitive difficulties), or memory loss
- Weakness and Fatigue
- Pale or Jaundiced Skin
- Breathlessness and Dizziness
- Disturbed Vision
- Mood Changes
- High Temperature
Since I have many of those symptoms, my neurologist recommended that I take a Vitamin B12 supplement, I use Nature’s Bounty Super B-Complex with Folic Acid plus Vitamin C. It has 500% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA).
Welcome to the Average Joe Weekly blog. This is basically my place on the web where I can help spread some of the knowledge that I have accumulated over the years. I served 10+ years in the Marine Corps on Active Duty, but that was some 25 years ago.
My doctors had me on Vitamin B supplements or a while thinking that was my problem. Good article.
M