If you often feel sluggish, depressed, forgetful, and constipated, you might have a vitamin B12 deficiency. This occurs when your body has inadequate stores of vitamin B12, essential for red blood cell production. This occurs in approximately 1 in 31 adults over 51, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the symptoms related to a vitamin B12 deficiency are the same as many other common ailments, and the actual prevalence of the deficiency might be even higher.
About the Vitamin
B12 is a water-soluble vitamin that needs to be ingested daily and absorbed by the digestive tract for you to stay healthy. Take a look at your diet to see if you eat foods common in vitamin B12, as most people get sufficient amounts through a healthy diet. Foods rich in B12 include red meat, poultry, fish and dairy products. It is also common in fortified food products such as cereals and bread. A vitamin B12 deficiency is somewhat uncommon because the human body typically maintains a two- to five-year store of the vitamin.
Deficiency Causes
Because vitamin B12 typically comes from animal food sources, it's often assumed that a deficiency comes from not eating enough meat. While this is true, as vegans or others with a limited diet are more likely to have a deficiency, there is also an autoimmune disorder known as pernicious anemia, where the body is unable to absorb vitamin B12 from foods. With this autoimmune disease, your body destroys the gastric parietal cells, which limits B12 absorption.
Symptoms
A vitamin B12 deficiency can affect the gastrointestinal tract, nervous system and cardiovascular system. It manifests in symptoms such as confusion or memory loss; depression; dizziness, balance problems or fainting; fatigue; pale skin; poor appetite; chest pain or heart palpitations; constipation; and shortness of breath. Symptoms vary widely depending on the person, as well as the cause and severity of the deficiency.
Diagnosis
If you have symptoms of a vitamin B12 deficiency, your primary care physician can diagnose you by doing blood work, which will indicate if there are low levels of the vitamin in the bloodstream. From there, the doctor can either determine whether the cause is due to lifestyle by conducting a basic diet examination, or whether the cause is pernicious anemia, which he can ascertain by doing what's known as a Schilling Test, which indicates malabsorption.
Treatment
If a deficiency is diagnosed, the body needs to have its stores of B12 replaced. This can be done by changing your diet and including more red meat, poultry, fish and dairy products. In the case of anemia, vitamin B12 is administered with a series of intramuscular injections. This could be a lifelong treatment if the body is incapable of absorbing B12. Less severe cases can be treated with B12 pills taken orally, through a nasal spray or sublingually. Without treatment, a vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to nerve damage, anemia, or dementia.
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