What Everyone Should Know About Vitamin B12 Deficiency
Some years ago I did a talk to the Cape Town teachers subsequent to my own experiences with Vitamin B12 deficiency. I would like to revisit the subject now in this article. Most people don’t know much about Vitamin B12 and what it does but I can sum it up by saying that without it nothing in the body can function. It is involved in the creation of blood cells, in the health of the neurological system, in the DNA of every cell in the body.
Vit B12 only occurs in animal products and vegans have to take supplements. The absorption of B12 is a complicated process but the two main components that are needed are the Hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which releases the B12 from food, and a protein called Intrinsic Factor which is produced in the lining of your stomach and which enables the absorption of B12 in the Ileum. A lack of acid can be caused mainly by aging, stress, and acid suppressing medications.
Vit B12 only occurs in animal products and vegans have to take supplements. The absorption of B12 is a complicated process but the two main components that are needed are the Hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which releases the B12 from food, and a protein called Intrinsic Factor which is produced in the lining of your stomach and which enables the absorption of B12 in the Ileum. A lack of acid can be caused mainly by aging, stress, and acid suppressing medications. The lack of Intrinsic Factor is caused by Atrophic Gastritis which is when the stomach lining has been inflamed for years. This inflammation is usually the result of an infection by the H.pylori bacteria which gradually destroys the cells in your stomach lining if not treated.
Perhaps more common in severe B12 deficiency is an autoimmune Atrophic gastritis which is when your immune system attacks healthy cells in your stomach lining and it is these cells that produce the Intrinsic Factor.
Vitamin B12 deficiency often takes years to develop and is insidious. Symptoms are numerous and involve the nerves, the heart, the brain, the spine, the bone marrow and the blood, the gut and the skin. To name just a few: fatigue, breathlessness, dizziness, diarrhoea, dementia, depression, tachycardia, swollen and sore joints, blurred vision, pain and numbness (or burning) in hands and feet, sore muscles, sore tongue, inability to walk (later). Before the discovery of B12 people used to eventually die of it hence the name Pernicious Anaemia.
It’s often called The Forgotten Disease. It would seem it is hardly covered in Med schools these days and there is an over emphasis on the recognition of it through the anaemia it causes whereas neurological symptoms usually occur before the anaemia. The laboratory ranges for blood B12 are set too low and often doctors miss a diagnosis because they rely on these rather than look at the symptoms.
Treatment is also often under par. Regular injections of B12 are prescribed but they are not regular enough. Most doctors don’t know that people suffering from B12 deficiency due to a lack of Intrinsic Factor cannot use the B12 stored in the liver. This is because the B12 is carried down the biliary duct from the liver to the small intestine where it is again absorbed through the medium of Intrinsic Factor. Eighty percent of a 1ml B12 injection cannot be used by the cells of the body because, while circulating in the blood, it combines with something called Haptocorrin and is taken up by the liver for storage. Only Once- a- month injections are prescribed in South Africa. This however is preferable to the UK where people get them four times a year. Even worse, some medical professionals are saying oral supplements can work just as well as injections. Luckily there are huge Vitamin B12 deficiency communities around the world where members support each other through social media and where most members have decided to treat themselves with regular injections.
Below is a good Youtube video to watch about B12 deficiency. It’s not very new but still relevant.
(Terry Hodson)