Vitamin B12 Deficiency
April 5th, 2007The essential vitamin B12 is a water soluble vitamin that is essential to good health. Although your body does not need a lot of vitamin B 12, it does need some on a daily basis. Vitamin B 12 builds red blood cells and maintains healthy nerve cells. Your DNA which is a part of every cell in your body is built with the aid of an essential intake of vitamin B12. Most of this vitamin comes from foods containing protein as it is bound to the protein you eat. Another popular way to take vitamin B12 is in the supplement form which usually comes as a B complex pill and has numerous B vitamins in one capsule. If you have a vitamin B12 deficiency it can be due to a number of reasons. A vitamin B12 deficiency can still occur even if you eat well beyond the daily requirement of B12.
Most healthy bodies can store a solid level of vitamin B12 but is it wise to ingest at least a small amount of B12 as a regular habit each day. Since most people only need about 6 micrograms of B12 per day to stay healthy, this can be eaten with a minimal amount of food. With just one small serving of fortified cereal like bran for breakfast, a serving of fish, chicken or meat for lunch and a small meal of some type of meat or eggs with a glass of milk for dinner would be more than enough vitamin B12 each day to remain in good health.
A vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to a number of abnormal health conditions. These include problems with vision, shaky hands, inability to walk properly, tiredness due to weak muscles, incontinence, depression and the list goes on. The fact is vitamin B12 is so important that a deficiency of this vitamin can affect so many areas in your body either directly or indirectly. Even just the slightest B12 deficiency can cause an adverse effect in your bodys ability to perform properly. Taking a blood test is one of the best ways to know if you are suffering from a deficiency of B12.
Elderly people are most at risk of having a vitamin B12 deficiency since their bodies can have difficulty in storing a necessary level of B12. Other people at risk are vegetarians, this is due to a limited protein intake from sources that supply adequate amounts of B12. Certain people require an increased level of vitamin B12 due to pregnancy, liver disease, internal hemorrhaging or from gastrointestinal disorders. Often people who fall into any of the above categories can help prevent or treat their vitamin B12 deficiency with an oral or intramuscular injection of the vitamin.
In cases where people cannot remedy their vitamin B12 deficiency with supplements or with a diet higher in B12, their problem often lies with their body having an inability to absorb the vitamin B12 they ingest. This is usually caused by stomach or intestinal problems that limit the amount of B12 that can be absorbed. Common signs resulting from an inability to absorb B12 are fatigue and a loss of appetite that results in sudden weight loss. In these cases, the individual needs to remedy the internal stomach or intestinal problem with the help of a physician before the body will again be able to absorb an adequate amount of B12.
In the majority of cases a vitamin B12 deficiency is a relatively painless and easy problem to fix by increasing the dietary level of the vitamin or by taking regular B12 supplementation. In rare cases where the patient has other internal problems, another form of treatment will usually be necessary before the condition will improve. B12 supplements are readily available in health food stores and B12 intramuscular injections can be found in most pharmacies.
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