Vitamin B-12 is a water soluble vitamin essential for your red blood cell production, DNA production, nervous system health and metabolism of food into energy. Unlike other B vitamins, your body can store B-12 in the liver for up to five years, making a B-12 deficiency unlikely in healthy people. However, people who suffer from diseases that cause malabsorption often suffer from vitamin deficiencies, and a B-12 deficiency can cause a disorder known as B-12 deficiency anemia.
B-12 Absorption
Your body does not create B-12, so you must get it from foods rich in the vitamin such as meats, poultry, milk products and eggs. When you eat B-12, the parietal cells located in the stomach release a substance known as intrinsic factor, which binds to the B-12 to allow for absorption in the last portion of the lower intestine. When you have disorders that cause malabsorption, they often interfere with the way the intestine absorbs the B-12, leading to a deficiency.
B-12 Deficiencies
When your body doesn't absorb the proper amounts of B-12, it can have wide-reaching effects throughout the body. Your body uses B-12 to create red blood cells, which contain hemoglobin. Hemoglobin carries oxygen throughout the body. When the body lacks red blood cells, it causes a lack of oxygenation, leading to paleness, fatigue and shortness of breath.
A B-12 deficiency can also take its toll on the peripheral nervous system, responsible for sending messages from the brain and spinal cord to the skin, organs and tissues. The National Institutes of Health, or NIH, explains that a B-12 deficiency can cause numbness and tingling in the extremities and lead to a condition known as peripheral neuropathy.
Malabsorption Deficiencies
One of the most common causes of B-12 deficiencies are malabsorption syndromes such as celiac disease and Crohn's disease. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases explains that celiac disease is a condition in which the body has a severe response to gluten, a product found in many food products containing wheat, rye and barley.
Eating gluten causes the immune system to attack the fingerlike protrusions, called villi, in the intestines responsible for absorbing nutrients such as B-12, causing damage to them. Crohn's disease is a form of irritable bowel syndrome that causes inflammation along the digestive tract. This inflammation can lead to the inability to absorb vital nutrients such as B-12.
Treatments
The University of Maryland Medical Center, or UMMC, explains that when you have a condition that results in malabsorption, physicians will often prescribe long-term or lifelong monthly B-12 injections. If a B-12 deficiency already exists, physicians will often prescribe frequent doses initially starting first with daily injections, then weekly and finally monthly. If malabsorption occurs due to celiac disease, treating the underlying condition by avoiding gluten can repair the villi and possibly allow people to absorb B-12 through food once again without injections.
Prognosis
Once diagnosed, undergoing malabsorption treatments along with B-12 injections allows for an excellent prognosis and increases the chances for a full recovery from anemia or neuropathy symptoms. However, if people suspect a B-12 deficiency, they should consult their physician as soon as possible, as nerve damage may become permanent if not treated within six months of the onset of symptoms, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Member Comments