Consuming a well-balanced diet is crucial to obtaining the proper amount of nutrients. Sometimes, despite a balanced diet, deficiencies occur. Vitamin B-12 exists in several forms known collectively as cobalamin. Metabolic abnormalities and diseases that affect your intestines -- the primary absorption site -- can lead to deficiency. It is important to consult your doctor if you have a deficiency or are considering supplementing cobalamin.
Function
Cobalamin helps your body metabolize fats and protein. It helps your body convert carbohydrates to fuel and is needed, along with other B-vitamins, for liver and skin health. Cobalamin helps to manufacture healthy red blood cells, which transport oxygen and nutrients throughout your body. This is crucial to all tissues and organs in your body and is the primary concern when a deficiency occurs.
Malapsorption Deficiencies
There are a variety of reasons why you might not properly absorb cobalamin from your food. Operations that alter your digestive system, such as gastric bypass surgery, commonly cause cobalamin deficiency. Inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease, also cause cobalamin malabsorption. Lifestyle factors, such as chronic alcohol consumption, can damage your gastric mucosa, leading to cobalamin deficiency.
Pernicious Anemia
There are more than 80 autoimmune disorders. Pernicious anemia is one of those. It is an abnormal immune response where your body produces antibodies that attack intrinsic factor -- a protein needed for cobalamin absorption. Your gastric cells secrete intrinsic factor. When antibodies attack intrinsic factor, they can destroy your gastric mucosa. This leaves little to no intrinsic factor available to absorb cobalamin.
Other Deficiencies
Dietary cobalamin deficiency can occur if you restrict animal-derived foods. Vegans, who are strict vegetarians, are at an increased risk for this reason. Atrophic gastritis, which is a weakened stomach lining, also can cause cobalamin deficiency. Older adults are at an increased risk. Up to 30 percent of adults over 60 have a weakened stomach lining, according to the Linus Pauling Institute.
Significance and Treatment
Cobalamin deficiency can cause anemia, which is when you have too few red blood cells. This decreases your oxygen capacity and can cause neurological damage such as tingling in the hands and feet. cobalamin deficiency can cause birth defects that affect your baby's brain and spinal cord. Cobalamin injections are used to treat deficiencies. They are typically taken once per month and they help to bring your levels into a normal range.
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