What is B12 Deficiency?
B12 deficiency making reactions of anemia, a shortage of vitamin B12 can also interfere with the nerves, and so affect the senses of touch and pain. In adults, blood cells are made 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 broken down and replaced, as part of a normal renewal process.
Vitamin B12 is a crucial product in DNA, the chemical that carries genetic information for young cells. It’s found in meat and animal products but not in vegetables. You need vitamin B12 to make red blood cells and for maintaining healthy nerves. The deficiency symptoms of Vitamin B12 are described below.
What are the symptoms of B12 deficiency?
The reactions of B12 deficiency symptoms (anemia) involves:
- breathlessness
- feeling very tired
- dizziness
- feeling very cold all the time
- a rapid, weak pulse
- palpitations
- headaches
Persons 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 refer to as vitamin B12 neuropathy. It disturbs 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 many different causes of anemia. A deficiency of vitamin B12 in your diet is just one possible cause. Other nutrients that you need to develop red blood cells include iron and folate (folic acid). A shortage of these in the diet can also cause anemia.
Most people who contract vitamin B12-deficiency anemia can’t develop 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 known as pernicious anemia. Pernicious anemia is an autoimmune illness. Normally, antibodies formed by the body’s immune system fight strange substances such as viruses and bacteria. With autoimmune conditions, the immune system mistakes the person’s own tissue as foreign and attacks it instead.
With pernicious anemia, antibodies damage the cells in the stomach that form 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 popular in people with blue eyes, early graying hair and blood group A.
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