Skin Haven
18 Clemens Street Leamington Spa CV31 2DL
18 Clemens Street Leamington Spa CV31 2DL
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.
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:
The Body Systems Where B12 is Imprtant
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.
47 Illness & Conditions Linked To B12 Deficiency
NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS The earliest symptoms of B12 deficiency and include:
NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS
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:
How Vitamin B12 Deficiency Is Diagnosed
NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS
The traditional way of diagnosing vitamin B12 deficiency has been with a serum B12 blood test to determine the patients B12 levels as well as the presence of any signs or symptoms of pernicious anaemia. The problem with this is that many sufferers of a B12 deficiency may not have anaemia or have a serum B12 blood level within an abnormally low range in accordance to the ‘normal’ ranges set. There are no national or international agreements of what a normal range is. The tests can also give false readings where they do not assess the bioavailability of the B12 or whether it is functional of not.
It is therefore better practice to look for trigger symptoms and undertake a one-minute health check to see if a client will benefit from B12 injections.
Key triggers or symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency are:
The One-Minute Health Check
Ask the client to score using the one-minute health check. The client circles their symptoms in each group and then score the severity from 0-10 (where 0 = no symptoms, 5 = symptom affects daily life to a moderate extent or 10, where the symptom is present all the time, severe and debilitating).
B12 Safety
Experience has shown that vitamin B12 is completely safe, at any concentration in the diet and in the blood.
The non-toxicity of Vitamin B12 is confirmed by the US National Institute of Health Office of Dietary Supplements which states that the US Institute of Medicine (IoM) has not established any upper limit for B12 ‘because of its low toxicity’. The IoM states that ‘no adverse effects have been associated with excess vitamin B12 intake from food and supplements in healthy individuals’.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) states that the European Committee on Food (SCF) has concluded that ‘it is not possible to derive an upper intake level, mainly because no clearly identified adverse effect could be identified’.
Dosing
Standard treatment is to give a loading dose of intramuscular injections of 1mg per 1ml ampoule of hydroxocobalamin
on alternative days for two weeks, then inject once every three to four weeks.
Vitamin B12 injections are a nutritional supplement and not a medicine. With proper use of sterile technique there should be minimal to no risk. It is usual to inject into the muscle (intramuscular -IM). This is because B12 is water- soluble and flows into the fluids. Surrounding the cells of the muscle. It is therefore easily transferred into the bloodstream from an IM injection.
Injection into the subcutaneous layer is not effective like it is with fat-soluble vitamins. Injecting into the subcutaneous layer can leave a red mark on the skin, which may be due to the red colour of the vitamin B12 being trapped in the fatty tissue.
It is therefore better practice to look for trigger symptoms and undertake a one-minute health check to see if a client will benefit from B12 injections.
Withdrawing Treatment
It is important that the client is made aware that upon stopping further vitamin B12 injections may cause a quick relapse back to their original symptoms.
Recommended Daily Amounts of B12
Birth To 6 Months – 0.4MCG
Infants 7 Months – 12 Months – 0.5MCG
Children 1-3 Years – 0.9MCG
Children 4-8 Years – 1.2MCG
Children 9-13 Years – 1.8MCG
Teens 14-18 Years – 2.4MCG
Adults 2.4MCG
Pregnant Teens & Women 2.6MCG
Breastfeeding Teens & Women – 2.8MCG
What To Expect Post Injection
Within Hours
Enjoyment of friends
Sociability
Mood improvements
Within A Day
Fatigue lessens
Become more sociable
Within 2 Weeks
Within A Month