Why Vitamin B12?
• After water and oxygen, vitamin B12 is the next essential micronutrient molecule vital for health.
• Vitamin B12 deficiency is common and can manifest at any age and is largely unrecognised.
• Vitamin B12 is crucial for many systems of the body to function correctly.
• Pernicious anaemia is just one illness related to a deficiency in vitamin B12.
• It is believed that vitamin B12 deficiency is not always detectable on blood tests.
• Symptoms such as depression, anxiety and psychosis as well as the early onset of dementia are common with vitamin B12 deficiency.
• Causes of B12 deficiency include genetic disorders, poor diet, gastrointestinal illness or surgery, alcoholism and use of antacids.
• Vitamin B12 is non-toxic – even at really high doses.
What is Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is the generic name for a group of compounds based on the cobalamin molecule that has cobalt as the trace mineral at its core. Cobalamin is a highly active complex organometallic molecule. It is the largest and most chemically complex of all of the 13 known vitamins and is generally red in colour. Like other B & C vitamins, Cobalamin is water-soluble, a characteristic that effects how it is absorbed, excreted and stored in the body. Vitamins A, D, E & K are all fat-soluble. It is classified as a vitamin as it is an essential nutrient for the human body and is regularly obtained from the food we eat. Like other vitamins its role is to catalyse or regulate metabolic reactions in the body. Vitamin B12 plays an important role in the body responsible for hematopoiesis (producing all types of blood cells), neural metabolism, DNA & RNA production, and carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism. It also helps to improve iron function in the metabolic cycle and assists folic acid in choline synthesis.
Vitamin B12 can only be made by microorganisms, such as bacteria and algae, if the cobalt mineral is available in the soil or water. The main source for humans to obtain vitamin B12 is from the consumption of meat and fish. The vitamin is made by microbes in the digestive tract of animals, where it is absorbed and deposited into their tissues. As well as meat and fish, vitamin B12 can also be obtained by the consumption of cheese, milk and eggs. There are no known sources of vitamin B12 in plants, although some species of seaweed have been found to contain it. Therefore it is quite common to see vegetarians or vegans present with vitamin B12 deficiencies.
Vitamin B12 is absorbed into our tissues through the digestive tract, however this process can be disrupted from poor digestion, intestinal disease or the use of some medications etc. Main causes are due to atrophic gastritis and lack of Intrinsic Factor (IF), a glycoprotein produced by the stomach that is required for the absorption of B12. As well as from poor diet and digestion, vitamin B12 deficiencies can also be affected by a genetic condition such as:
• Pernicious anaemia
• Crohn’s disease
• Treatment with proton-pump inhibitors
• Atrophic gastritis
• Coeliac disease
• Use of antacids (acid is required to release B12 from food)
• Gastrointestinal surgery
• Use of certain medications
• Use of illegal drugs and substances including nitrous oxide
The body systems where B12 is important Vitamin B12 plays a key role in many body systems and organs and this list is increasing.
It is needed for energy production through the Krebs Cycle, for the synthesis of DNA via the folate cycle which affects trillions of cells in the body, and for the expression of genes through epigenetic processes. It affects the proper functioning of the nervous and peripheral systems, mood and cognitive functions and the formation of blood in the bone marrow, skin and mucous membranes, bones, the glandular system, the immune system, the digestive system, fertility and pregnancy and development of the embryo. Vitamin B12 deficiency consequently manifests as a wide range of different symptoms, some of which appear to be unrelated or may even be misdiagnosed. B12 is fundamental to animal life and metabolism that the symptoms are also widespread. B12 is responsible for:
• Manufacture and normal function of blood cells.
• It rapidly divides all cells from epithelial cells to bone marrow cells.
• Energy production through the Krebs Cycle.
• Metabolism of fats, carbohydrates and proteins.
• Nerve cell conduction.
• Neurotransmitters.
• Endocrine systems.
• Immune systems.
• Conversion of homocysteine to methionine, then to SAMe (mood enhancing) and amino acids, with effects on many metabolic processes.
• Correct synthesis and transcription of DNA. • Removal of toxins
Illness and conditions linked to B12 deficiency
Neuropsychiatric disorders
The earliest symptoms of B12 deficiency and include:
• Irritability
• Mood swings
• Confusion
• Forgetfulness
• Fogginess
• Psychosis
• Hallucinations or delusion
• Depression
• Anxiety/Panic attacks
• Tension headaches
• Onset of dementia
Neurological disorders
• Bells palsy
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
• Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
Autoimmune disorders
Autoimmune disorders take many forms, they include overactive immune system disorders when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys its own tissue and underactive system disorders when the body’s defence against disease is reduced. Such disorders are frequent with vitamin B12 deficiency.
The list includes:
• Addison’s disease
• Amyloidosis
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Coeliac disease
• Crohn’s disease
• Dermatomysositis
• Graves’ disease
• Guillain-Barre syndrome
• Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
• Multiple sclerosis (MS-like presentation/SACD (subacute combined degeneration))
• Myasthenia gravis
• Pernicious anaemia/B12 deficiency
• Reactive arthritis
• Restless leg syndrome (RLS)
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Sjogren’s syndrome
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Type 1 diabetes
• Ulcerative colitis
Many of the above conditions have overlapping symptoms, for example fatigue, general ill-feeling, joint pain and rash. Many of these conditions cease to exhibit their symptoms once vitamin B12 balance is restored in the body.
