How To Identify B 12 Deficiency Symptoms Article

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How To Identify B 12 Deficiency Symptoms

B12 deficiency creating symptoms of anemia, a shortage of vitamin B12 can also interfere with the nerves, and so disturb the senses of touch and pain.

Author: Marcia Mcwhite

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What is B12 Deficiency?

In adults, blood cells are developed by red bone marrow, which is located inside the centre of the hips, ribs, breastbone and backbone, in addition the ends of long bones such as the thigh. Red blood cells live for around 120 days before they are deteriorated and replaced, as part of a normal renewal process.

Vitamin B12 is a vital product in DNA, the chemical that carries genetic information for new cells. It's located in meat and animal products but not in vegetables. You need vitamin B12 to produce red blood cells and for maintaining healthy nerves.

What are the symptoms of B12 deficiency?

The symptoms of B12 deficiency (anemia) include:
breathlessness
feeling very tired
dizziness
feeling very cold all the time
a rapid, weak pulse
palpitations
headaches

People with vitamin B12-deficiency anemia may also look pale or jaundiced (yellow-tinged skin and eyes). As well as the symptoms of anemia, vitamin B12 deficiency may result in neurological reactions due to inflammation of the nerves (neuritis). This is called vitamin B12 neuropathy. It affects movement and sensation, in particularly in the legs, and causes numbness or pins and needles. It can also cause confusion, depression, poor concentration and forgetfulness.

What are the causes of Vitamin B12 deficiency?

There are numerous different causes of anemia. A deficiency of vitamin B12 in your diet is just one possible cause. Other nutrients that you need to make red blood cells include iron and folate (folic acid). A lack of these in the diet can also result in anemia.

Most people who develop vitamin B12-deficiency anemia can't produce enough of a substance known as intrinsic factor in their stomach. This intrinsic factor is needed for vitamin B12 to be absorbed from food and drink. This is a condition called pernicious anemia. Pernicious anemia is an autoimmune illness. Normally, antibodies formed by the body's immune system attack strange substances such as viruses and bacteria. With autoimmune conditions, the immune system mistakes the person's own tissue as strange and attacks it instead.

With pernicious anemia, antibodies attack the cells in the stomach that produce intrinsic factor. The exact cause of pernicious anemia isn't known. Its most popular in people aged over 60. It affects women more than men, and is more common in people with blue eyes, early graying hair and blood group A.

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