Jenny
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 Posted: 10/27/06 - 03:50 Post subject: Vitamin B12 Deficiency Causes the Same Symptoms as Mental De |
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It is quite possible that many elderly people were misdiagnosed with mental deterioration or even had their symptoms mistaken for Alzheimer's disease when the only thing they suffered from was vitamin B12 deficiency.
It has been found that depression, numbness, sleeplessness, and many other neurological disorders were manifestation of inadequate vitamin B12 intake.
Most of the vitamin B12 we get from meat, so vegetarians are at most risk of suffering from the symptoms mentioned. Vegetarians need to know how to protect themselves from not receiving nutrients other people get from meat like iron and vitamin B12. To avoid these annoying and frightening symptoms, vegetarians should be taking supplements.
To another risk group of vitamin B12 deficiency belong people whose bodies are unable to absorb the vitamin. This inability may lead to severe anemia, insomnia and signs of nervousness. Factors like the use of acid blockers, excessive use of laxatives, lack of intrinsic factor, poor absorption from the intestines, lack of calcium, etc could be also causing vitamin B12 deficiency.
A study done on this particular problem showed that 61% of the people who were given the supplements managed to fully recover from the symptoms. The rest 39% didn’t respond to the treatment because they suffered brain damage due to being undiagnosed for too long.
Scientists advise that our diets need to contain adequate amounts of the vitamin B 12 no matter form we take it. If we are not receiving it from foods, we should be taking supplements.
Vitamin B12 comes in several kinds including hydroxy-, methyl, -cyano, and adenosyl-cobalamin. However, only the methylcobalamin form is used in the central nervous system.
Vitamin supplements use cyanocobalamin, which is converted by the liver into methylcobalamin.
Methylcobalamin is often prescribed to people who suffer from sleep-wake disorder since it has positive effects on the quality of sleep and mood. |
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