CIDPUSA.org Autoimmune diseases

Google Health Search

Autoimmune disease treatment

Vitamin B₁₂ Deficiency  B6 deficiency

B12 also known as cobalamine or cynacobalmine its deficiency causes the following symptoms.

• Anemia develops, causing paleness, weakness, fatigue, and, if severe, shortness of breath and dizziness.
A severe deficiency may cause tingling or loss of sensation in the hands and feet, muscle weakness, loss of reflexes, difficulty walking, confusion, and dementia.
• The diagnosis is based on blood tests.
• When high doses of vitamin B₁₂ supplements are taken, most symptoms resolve.
Symptoms due to nerve damage, such as neuropathy or dementia in older people, may persist.

Some people develop dry eyes which is due to Sjogrens syndrome.

Vitamin B₁₂occurs in foods that come from animals. Normally, vitamin B₁₂ is readily absorbed in the last part of the small intestine (ileum), which leads to the large intestine. However, to be absorbed, the vitamin must combine with intrinsic factor, a protein produced in the stomach. Without intrinsic factor, vitamin B₁₂ moves through the intestine and is excreted in stool.

Because vitamin B₁₂ is necessary for the formation of mature blood cells, deficiency of this vitamin can result in anemia. The anemia is characterized by abnormally large red blood cells (macrocytes) and white blood cells with abnormal nuclei. Anemia may not develop until 3 to 5 years after the deficiency begins because a large amount of vitamin B₁₂ is stored in the liver.

Vitamin B₁₂ or cobalmaine deficiency can cause nerve damage (neuropathy) even when no anemia develops, particularly in people older than 60.

Causes of B12 deficiency

Vitamin B₁₂ or cynacobalmine deficiency can result when people do not consume enough vitamin B₁₂ or when the body does not absorb or store enough of the vitamin very common inCeliac disease..

Inadequate Consumption: Vitamin B₁₂ deficiency develops in people who do not consume any animal products (vegans) unless they take supplements. If a vegan mother breastfeeds her infant, the infant is at risk of vitamin B₁₂ deficiency.

Inadequate Absorption:

The most common cause of vitamin B₁₂ deficiency is inadequate absorption. The following conditions can cause absorption to be inadequate:

• Overgrowth of bacteria in part of the small intestine
• Malabsorption disorders
Inflammatory bowel disease
• Fish tapeworm infection
• Surgery that removes the part of the small intestine where vitamin B₁₂ is absorbed
• Drugs such as antacids and Some Trade Names
  GLUCOPHAGE (used to treat diabetes)
• Lack of intrinsic factor
Decreased stomach acidity (common among older people)

Celiac disease is among the commonest cause of B-12 deficiency

 

Continue to page two of vitaminB-12