Overall health is the result of many different factors. Diet, lifestyle, genetics and the en-vironment all contribute to the state of our well-being. Although it is difficult to dis-tinguish the impact of any one aspect in the myriad of factors that influence our health, vi-tamin B12 has proven to be a vital link.
Vitamin B12 is one of the thirteen essential vitamins that the body needs in order to stay alive. It is considered unique in that it is the only one of the essential vitamins that contains the trace min-eral cobalt. Hence, B12 is sometimes referred to by its scientific name cobalamin. Another characteristic that sets vitamin B12 apart is its natural source. B12 is pro-duced only in the gut of animals so, unlike other vita-mins, we can’t obtain it from plants or from sunlight. The best dietary sources of vitamin B12 include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, shellfish, milk and most other dairy products. In Could It Be B12?, co-authors Sally Pacholok, RN, and Jef-frey Stuart, DO, state that many people associate a
Nervous System
B12 helps in the production of the soft, fatty material called myelin that surrounds and protects nerve fibers. A defi-ciency in B12 can compromise the myelin and can result in serious neurological problems. Vitamin B12 deficiencies have, in some cases, been misdiag-nosed as multiple sclerosis, according to Ms. Pacholok and Dr. Stuart.
Immune System
Vitamin B12 also plays a criti-cal role in the production of white blood cells, which are key components in the im-mune system. A vitamin B12 deficiency has been shown to lead to reduced numbers of white blood cells, which can lead to an increased sus-ceptibility to infections and diseases.
Blood Supply
Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the brain and other organs and tissues. Without an adequate supply of B12, red blood cells become abnormally large and are de-stroyed more rapidly. Fewer functioning red blood cells are then available to circulate vitamin B12 deficiency with
vegetarians or vegans who don’t eat foods containing B12, but the majority of those with a deficiency eat plentiful amounts of foods containing B12; they simply are unable to absorb or effectively make use of vitamin B12 in their bodies.
B12’s Many Functions
Vitamin B12 is necessary for the proper functioning of many of the most basic sys-tems in the body. It is crucial for sustaining physical, emo-tional and mental energy. B12 is essential for female repro-ductive health and pregnancy. It affects everything from cell formation to circulation to moods.Digestion & Metabolism
B12 plays an important role in converting food to energy. It affects digestion, nutrient absorption and metabolism. Ironically, those who are al-ready low in vitamin B12 have more difficulty absorbing it and getting it into the blood-stream to make it available to the body. Without interven-tion, this creates a vicious cycle of deficiency.throughout the body and carry oxygen. This condition, called anemia, causes the body to feel exhausted and weak. If anemia continues untreated, it can lead to serious health problems, including nerve damage and an increased risk for stroke. In a report titled
Vitamin B12: Essential for Vig-orous Good Health, Dr. Joseph
Mercola states that chronic anemia can affect “everything from your balance to your sense of smell.”
Methylation
Vitamin B12—along with vitamin B6, folate and other nutrients—are involved in the process of methylation where-by small parts of molecules, called methyl groups, are transferred to other molecules such as hormones, proteins and DNA.
The liver uses methylation to detoxify substances. If there are not enough nutrients to supply an adequate number of methyl groups, levels of homocysteine (an amino acid in the body) build up in the blood and urine.
Elevated homocysteine levels are associated with hormone imbalance. Efficient methyla-tion is crucial for metabolizing the estrogen hormones; it is the pathway for eliminating excess estrogen from the body. Failure to provide enough methyl groups leads to el-evated homocysteine levels and allows estrogens to accu-mulate, resulting in hormone
imbalance. Elevated homo-cysteine levels have also been associated with an increased risk for heart disease.
B12 Deficiency
Growing evidence supports the importance of B12 with regard to hormone balance, in that many of the disorders associated with a hormone imbalance are also associated with a vitamin B12 deficiency. Without adequate B12, overall health is compromised in fun-damental ways.
One of the reasons people be-come deficient in vitamin B12 is that, with age, the digestive system gradually loses its abil-ity to produce hydrochloric acid, which is necessary for releasing vitamin B12 from food. Dr. Mercola suggests that “If you’re over 50, it’s safe to assume you are not absorb-ing vitamin B12 at an optimal level.”
Symptoms of a vitamin B12 deficiency include:
• unexplained fatigue or loss of energy
• muscle weakness • poor circulation
• tingling in the extremities • apathy
• lack of motivation • mental fogginess • memory problems • unusual mood swings. While working as an emer-gency department nurse, Ms. Pacholok frequently
observes “patients presenting with generalized weakness, anemia, shortness of breath, neuropathy, difficulty ambu-lating, mental status changes, mental illness, and fall-related trauma” only to find that they are deficient in B12. She sug-gests that all too often these types of symptoms fall under a diagnosis of “normal aging” or other conditions, when vi-tamin B12 is the real culprit. Although vitamin B12 is water-soluble, it does not exit the body quickly in urine. When everything is function-ing properly, there is nearly a year’s supply stored through-out the body, primarily in the liver. Dr. Mercola warns that “a deficiency may not show itself for a number of years, depending on your diet and your body’s ability to effi-ciently absorb B12. This time lag is a serious concern, be-cause after about seven years
“If you’re over
50, it’s safe to
assume you are
not absorbing
vitamin B12
at an optimal
level.”
of B12 deficiency, irreversible brain damage can result.”
Dementia & Alzheimer’s
Disease
A vitamin B12 deficiency can seriously impair proper functioning of the nervous system, affecting an indi-vidual’s mental state, and leading to memory loss, fuzzy thinking, personality changes and erratic moods. These symptoms all appear as classic dementia, when it just might be a vitamin B12 deficiency. Fortunately, there is growing recognition of the
link between vitamin B12, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Joseph G. Hattersley, MA, proposes that an early launch of high dose vitamin B12 treatment, soon after the first warning symptoms ap-pear, may even turn off the process. And Dr. John V. Dommisse states that “most cases of Alzheimer’s dementia are actually missed B12 defi-ciency cases.” He believes that approximately 75 percent of the dementia cases brought on by B12 deficiency could be reversed if the condition is discovered early enough.
Researchers conducted a 7-year investigation involving a group of 271 healthy indi-viduals, 65-79 years of age, to explore the relationship among homocysteine levels, vitamin B12 levels, and a diag-nosis of Alzheimer’s disease. They found that elevated homocysteine levels were as-sociated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, while increased B12 decreased the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Mental Health
As mentioned earlier, B12 is important to the health of nerve cells in the brain that control moods and behaviors. And, while a vitamin B12 de-ficiency may not be the direct cause of most cases of mental illness, it is believed to play some role, particularly in cases involving depression. Accord-ing to Dr. Mercola, depression is believed to be associated with a shortage of monoamine neurotransmitters, which are produced by the central ner-vous system, with the help of B12.
One type of depression is postpartum depression. Ms. Pacholok and Dr. Stuart note that “Pregnancy can drasti-cally worsen a pre-existing B12 deficiency because B12 is transferred to the growing fe-tus throughout pregnancy.” Ms. Pacholok and Dr. Stuart have observed that people who suffer from severe de-pression, anxiety, paranoia and a rash of other psychiatric
Common Causes of B12 Deficiency
Medications Antacids, antibiotics, birth control pills and many other medications may in-terfere with the body’s ability to absorb or make use of vitamin B12.
Gastritis This condition causes inflammation and deterioration of the stomach lin-ing, resulting in reduced stomach acid secretion, which is needed to free B12 from animal protein.
Gastric bypass Individuals who have undergone this procedure are at risk for B12 deficien-cy because they lose the cells in their stomach that produce acid.
Digestive disorders Bacterial overgrowth in the small in-testine or parasitic infections can affect the normal metabolism of vitamin B12. Crohn’s disease Along with other GI disorders such as
enteritis or celiac disease, this can in-terfere with B12 absorption.
Dietary deficiencies A diet lacking in meat, eggs or dairy products (the primary sources of B12) can result in a B12 deficiency.
disorders might be pre-scribed dangerous narcotics or other drugs, when the underlying problem may actually be a vitamin B12 deficiency.
Infertility
While there are many dif-ferent causes of female and male infertility, B12 defi-ciency is one factor that is often overlooked.
In some cases, doctors have reported that anovulation (a failure to release an egg during the monthly cycle) occurs in some women with B12 deficiency. In these cases, a cause of the B12 deficiency is the decreased production of in-trinsic factor (IF), a protein normally made in the stom-ach, which is necessary for proper absorption of B12. This leads to the develop-ment of malformed red blood cells, known as
perni-cious anemia.
Some studies have noted a link between B12 deficiency and abnormal estrogen
levels that may interfere with implantation of the fertilized egg. Dr. Michael Bennett describes a connec-tion linking B12 deficiency with not only a failure to get pregnant but also a failure to successfully carry a baby full-term.
A vitamin B12 deficiency has also been associated with abnormalities of the cells of the reproductive tract, extending to the lin-ing of the uterus and cervix, which might be diagnosed as cervical dysplasia. Obser-vation of these abnormalities caused by a B12 deficiency can also be mistaken for a precancerous condition.
Osteoporosis
The Framingham Osteopo-rosis study demonstrated a strong link between low levels of vitamin B12 and osteoporosis, characterized by thinning, weakened bones. A follow-on study by Tucker, et al., found that B12 is important to DNA synthesis, thereby affecting bone formation. Another study by van Meurs, et al., examined levels of homo-cysteine, which increases with low B12, and the like-lihood of bone fractures. In both men and women, those with the highest con-centration of homocysteine were much more likely to fracture a hip or experi-ence a broken bone. These studies all suggest that vi-tamin B12 may benefit bone health, while low levels of B12 can lead to the devel-opment of osteoporosis. Ms. Pacholok and Dr. Stu-art go on to state that these findings are not surprising as vitamin B12 is crucial to the function of osteoblasts
“... a deficiency may not show itself
for a number of years, depending on
your diet and your body’s ability to
efficiently absorb B12.”
– Dr. Joseph Mercola
“Pregnancy can drastically worsen a
pre-existing B12 deficiency because
B12 is transferred to the growing
fe-tus throughout pregnancy.”
(bone-forming cells). In-sufficient levels of B12 may result in decreased amounts of bone-forming cells and thus compromise the strength and durability of bones.
Breast Cancer
DNA, which contains the genetic instructions for each cell, is continu-ally being damaged and therefore needs to be con-stantly repaired. Because methylation controls both the production and repair of DNA, nutrients that provide methyl groups are linked to the cancer process.
Dr. Martin Lajous led a study that investigated the connection between B12 and breast cancer. The results suggest that a high intake of folate, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 may low-er the risk of breast canclow-er. Conversely, low levels of folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 are associated with an increased breast cancer risk.
B12 Testing
If you believe that you may have a vitamin B12 deficiency, or any of the related health concerns de-scribed here, a healthcare professional can admin-ister or request a test to measure your B12 levels.
The most common B12 test is a serum test that mea-sures the level of vitamin B12 in your blood serum. According to Ms. Pacholok and Dr. Stuart, experts ad-vise further testing if your level is below 350 pico-grams/milliliter (pg/ml). A more sensitive and spe-cific test for B12 levels is called the MMA or methyl-malonic acid test. This test measures the level of MMA in either urine or blood. The principle behind this test is that vitamin B12 is required to metabolize MMA; in short, an elevated level of MMA indicates de-creased B12 activity.
Another way to determine if you are deficient in B12 is to test your homocyste-ine (Hcy) level. Elevated levels of homocysteine in the blood indicate a B12 deficiency, and possible deficiencies in vitamin B6 or folate as well. Although this test is not necessary to diagnose a B12 deficiency, it is considered a valuable tool, along with either a se-rum B12 or MMA test.
B12 Supplements
Supplemental vitamin B12 is available in three forms—cyanocobalamin, methylcobalamin and hy-droxocobalamin—and can be supplemented orally,nasally, dissolved under the tongue or by injection. While there is some con-troversy over which form is most preferred, or considered to be most ef-fective, current evidence suggests that methylco-balamin may be superior to the others, especially in cases involving neuro-logical disease. According to Ms. Pacholok and Dr. Stuart, methylcobalamin is believed to be more ef-fective because it is able to cross the blood-brain bar-rier, thereby leaving the bloodstream and actually entering into the brain tis-sue where it is needed. For most people, there is very little (if any) down-side to supplementing vitamin B12, and a lot of downside to living with a B12 deficiency. However, according to Drugs.com, if you are allergic to cobalt (or cobalamin, the other name for B12) or if have a family history of Leber’s disease (a hereditary eye disease), you should avoid injectable vitamin B12 (cy-anocobalamin), as it may cause more harm than good in these cases. For optimal health, it is important to work with your healthcare practi-tioner to monitor your vitamin B12 levels.
Connections is a publication of Women’s International Pharmacy, which is dedicated to the education and manage-ment of PMS, menopause, infertility, postpartum depression, and other hormone-related conditions and therapies.
This publication is distributed with the understanding that it does not constitute medical advice for individual problems. Although material is intended to be accurate, please seek proper medical advice from a competent healthcare professional.
Publisher: Constance Kindschi Hegerfeld, Executive VP, Women’s International Pharmacy Co-Editors: Julie Johnson and Carol Petersen, RPh, CNP; Women’s International Pharmacy
Writer: Kathleen McCormick, McCormick Communications Illustrator: Amelia Janes, Midwest Educational Graphics
Copyright © February 2014, Women’s International Pharmacy. This newsletter may not be reproduced or distributed
without the permission of Women’s International Pharmacy.
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For more information, please visit www.womensinternational.com or call (800) 279-5708.
References
n Methyl Magic by Craig Cooney, PhD; An-drews McMeel Publishing; Kansas City, MO; 1999.
n Could It Be B12? An Epidemic of
Misdiag-noses (2nd edition) by Sally M. Pacholok,
RN, BSN, and Jeffrey J. Stuart, DO; Quill Driver Books; Chicago, IL; 2011.
n Vitamin B12: Essential for Vigorous Good
Health, a report by Joseph Mercola, DO.
n “Vitamin B12 Deficiency: Serious Conse-quences” by Sally M. Pacholok, RN, BSN,
Pharmacy Times, December 13, 2013.
n “Subtle vitamin B12 deficiency and psychiatry: A largely unnoticed but devastating relationship?” by John V. Dommisse, MD; Medical Hypotheses; 1991. n “High-Dose Vitamin B12 for At-Home
Prevention and Reversal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Diseases” by Joseph G. Hattersley, MA; Townsend Letter; 2006. n “Homocysteine and
holotranscobala-min and the risk of Alzheimer disease: a longitudinal study” by B. Hooshmand, A. Solomon , I Kareholt, et al; Neurology, 2010.
n “Vitamin B12 Deficiency, Infertility and Recurrent Fetal Loss” by Michael Bennett, MD; Journal of Reproductive Medicine; 2001. n “Risk factors for longitudinal bone loss in elderly men and women: the Framingham Osteoporosis Study” by M.T. Hannan, et al.; Journal of Bone and Mineral Research; 2000..
n “Low plasma vitamin B12 is associated with lower BMD: the Framingham Os-teoporosis Study” by K.L. Tucker, et al.;
Journal of Bone and Mineral Research; 2005.
n “Homocysteine levels and the risk of os-teoporotic fracture” by J.B.J. van Meurs, PhD, et al.; New England Journal of
Medi-cine; 2004.
n “Folate, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin B12 In-take and the Risk of Breast Cancer Among Mexican Women” by Martin Lajous et al.;
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 2006.
n What is Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin
(injection))?; Available at http://www.
drugs.com/mtm/vitamin-b12-injection. html as of March 7, 2014.
