Usually, vitamin B12 deficiency anemia is easy to treat with diet and vitamin supplements. To increase the amount of vitamin B12 in your diet, eat more of foods that contain it, such as: Beef, liver, and chicken.
The treatment for vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia depends on what's causing the condition. Most people can be easily treated with injections or tablets to replace the missing vitamins.
Long-term vitamin B12 deficiency can cause nerve damage. This may be permanent if you do not start treatment within 6 months of when your symptoms begin. Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia most often responds well to treatment. It will likely get better when the underlying cause of the deficiency is treated.
You can swallow a pill or take a tablet that melts under your tongue. The doctor may start you out at 1,000-2,000 micrograms a day. Once your levels are normal, you may need 100-500 micrograms a day or 1,000 micrograms one or two times a week.
A. A deficiency of vitamin B12 can cause neurological and psychiatric problems that “can progress if left untreated, and can lead to irreversible damage,” said Dr. Donald Hensrud, director of the Mayo Clinic's Healthy Living Program. Fortunately, it can be reversed fairly easily with vitamin pills or injections.
Stage 1 is decreased levels of vitamin B12 in the blood. Stage 2 is low concentration of vitamin B12 in the cell and metabolic abnormalities. Stage 3 is increased levels of homocysteine and MMA and decreased DNA synthesis resulting in neuropsychiatric symptoms. Stage 4 is macrocytic anemia.
A serum B12 above 300 pg/mL is interpreted as normal. Patients with B12 levels between 200 and 300 pg/mL are considered borderline, and further enzymatic testing may be helpful in diagnosis. Patients with B12 levels below 200 pg/mL are considered deficient.
Common causes of vitamin B12 deficiency include inadequate dietary amounts (eg, in vegans), impaired absorption, age-related decreased acid secretion, and autoimmune metaplastic atrophic gastritis (which causes pernicious anemia).
If left untreated for a long time, B12 deficiency can lead to paralysis that doesn't go away.
Stress is known to deplete our levels of B vitamins, especially vitamin B12. Vegetarians, vegans and those on restricted diets can struggle to get enough vitamin B12 to meet their body's needs.
A lack of vitamin B12 can cause neurological problems, which affect your nervous system, such as: vision problems. memory loss. pins and needles.
The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies pregnant and lactating women as among the groups at greatest risk of vitamin B12 deficiency [22].
If your vitamin B12 deficiency is not caused by a lack of vitamin B12 in your diet, you'll usually need to have an injection of hydroxocobalamin every 2 to 3 months for the rest of your life.
It may take a few weeks before your vitamin B12 levels and symptoms (such as extreme tiredness or lack of energy) start to improve. If you have hydroxocobalamin injections to boost your vitamin B12 levels at the start of treatment, the cyanocobalamin tablets may start to work within a few days.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can indeed lead to weight gain. But the weight gain is not a direct result of the deficiency. Instead, vitamin B12 deficiency causes lethargy or lack of energy, and in turn, inactivity causes weight gain. When you lack the energy to move, you don't burn fat.
There are certain foods that also need a cut-down in case of vitamin B12 deficiency. “Some foods and drinks can interfere with vitamin B complex intake like alcohol, caffeine and processed foods, etc should be avoided completely,” Shah added.
Key points about vitamin B12 deficiency anemia
Without enough red blood cells, your tissues and organs don't get enough oxygen. Without enough oxygen, your body can't work as well. Symptoms include weak muscles, numbness, trouble walking, nausea, weight loss, irritability, fatigue, and increased heart rate.
Pernicious anemia, a deficiency in the production of red blood cells due to a lack of vitamin B12, can cause permanent neurological damage that can lead to death if it is untreated.
Some studies have found people experiencing anxiety have lower levels of vitamin B12, and that people with anxiety and depression at more likely to have a vitamin B12 deficiency.
Vitamin B deficiency can cause diseases such as beriberi, pellagra or anaemia. People who are vitamin B deficient may feel tired, numbness or weak, among other symptoms.
Conclusions: Vitamin B12 deficiency may produce an increased T2-weighted signal, decreased T1-weighted signal, and contrast enhancement of the posterior and lateral columns of the spinal cord, mainly of the cervical and upper thoracic segments.
B12 deficiency can also lead to nerve and brain damage. This damage may manifest in symptoms such as brain fog, memory problems, fatigue, depression, muscle fatigue and tingling in the extremities.