Not too long ago in the United States , a diagnosis of pernicious anemia was like a death sentence. Now, visualize this, the first treatment for pernicious anemia was the eating of sickening amounts of raw liver! Patients had to eat a half pound or more per day just to continue living . I almost gag when I think of that ! Fortunately, that is no longer required since in 1947 vitamin B12 was isolated from liver and found to be the factor that alleviated pernicious anemia.
The discovery of B12 led to the knowledge of both the cause of and the cure for pernicious anemia. A lack of vitamin B12 in the body results in the formation of pernicious anemia. ~ This form of anemia develops due to a shortage or lack of B12 in the body. } It will cause damage to both the blood-forming process and the nervous system. As a result of the B12 scarcity , the bone marrow produces unusually large red blood cells. The life span of these affected blood cells is only one-half that of normal cells.
The bone marrow turns red and jelly-like. This results in a decrease of both the red and white blood cell count. The normal count for red blood cells is 5,000,000. One suffering from pernicious anemia may see a red blood cell count of only 1,000. The white blood cell count may drop to 3,000 as compared to a normal range of 5,000 to 10,000. Blood cells suffer from both arrested development and rapid destruction. These two factors prevent many blood cells from ever reaching the bloodstream. Damage to the nervous system can range from a tingling feeling in the fingers to irreparable damage to the nerves; 40 to 95 percent of pernicious anemia victims suffer some degree of neurological damage.
Now, let us look at other significant factors involved with B12 anemia .
INTRINSIC FACTOR
Several causes may lead to a B12 deficiency, but one usually develops pernicious anemia because of the inability to absorb the vitamin . The natural means of obtaining vitamin B12 is through the foods we eat, but B12 is not present in plants. You must eat protein foods such as liver, whole milk, eggs, oysters, pork or chicken, and its complex structure makes it much more difficult to absorb in comparison to other nutrients. In addition, the stomach secretes a substance known as “intrinsic factor” which binds to the B12 allowing it to be absorbed through the intestinal walls.
A vitamin B12 deficiency is infrequently due to an absence of the vitamin in the diet. It is much more common to find deficiencies in individuals who fail to absorb the vitamin from the intestine. This failure to absorb the vitamin results in pernicious anemia. The gastric parietal cells are responsible for the synthesis of a glycoprotein (a combination of carbohydrate and protein), called the “intrinsic factor”. When these cells are destroyed, the intrinsic factor is no longer produced and absorption of vitamin B12 is no longer possible. Furthermore, as we reach the age of 50 and beyond, the stomach begins to produce less hydrochloric acid as well as less “intrinsic factor.” This is the condition that causes the elderly to have the inability to completely break down the protein in their diet, thus they are unable to free the protein-bound B12. This in turn creates the B12 deficiency.
If an individual is missing or under producing “intrinsic factor”, it is impossible to absorb B12 regardless of how much one eats. The availability of “intrinsic factor” can also be affected by any type of stomach surgery, iron deficiency, pregnancy, aging, and intestinal disorders (like Crohn’s disease). Because of all these factors, many more people than generally recognized suffer from some level of B12 deficiency.
The “good news” to this is that when taking a sublingual B12 supplement, it does not matter whether or not you have any “intrinsic factor”, or even Crohn’s disease for that matter. The B12 will by-pass any dependency on stomach hydrochloric acid or the production of the “intrinsic factor” by being absorbed directly into the bloodstream.
DEFICIENCY CAN BE SUBTLE, AND DEVASTATING
Many people believe they are getting enough vitamin B12 from their diet if they have not been diagnosed with pernicious anemia. The truth is that unless they have developed anemia, most people have not even thought about B12. You need to know that problemslinked with a B12 deficiency may occur long before a diagnosable case of pernicious anemia occurs. Pernicious anemia affects more than just the blood . The gastrointestinal tract and the peripheral and central nervous systems are affected too . The first indications of anemia are a sore tongue and numbness and/or tingling or burning feeling in the hands or feet. Sufferers tend to be pale and white-lipped. A diversity of abdominal difficulties include: gas, constipation or diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, pain, and poor appetite.
Additional signs include irritability, drowsiness, chronic fatigue, spots before the eyes, and ringing in the ears . Vital organs become starved for oxygen because not enough red blood cells are being formed. The liver and spleen oftenbecome enlarged, and neurological damage increases as the disease progresses. Severe anemia can lead to heart failure.
PSYCHIATRIC ABNORMALITIES OF A B12 DEFICIENCY
Pernicious anemia is a serious condition, but it may not be the most important problem created by a B12 deficiency. Odel Abramsky, M.D. wrote in the “Journal of the American Geriatrics Society” that from his case studies he concluded the results from a B12 deficiency can be devastating – and irreversible. Dr. Abramsky concluded his article by stating that “mental or psychiatric manifestations such as mental apathy, fluctuations in mood, memory disturbance, paranoia, or frank psychosis may more often precede the blood changes (of anemia) by a number of years”.
The New York Herald Tribune newspaper quoted the highly respected hematologist, Victor Herbert, M.D. of New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital. He attributed the blame for many patients being committed to mental hospitals to brain damage that resulted from a lack of B12. The British Medical Journal editorial staff dramatically stated, “It is true that vitamin B12 deficiency may cause severe psychotic symptoms which may vary in severity from mild disorders of mood, mental slowness, and memory defect to severe psychotic symptoms – Occasionally, these mental disturbances may be the first manifestations of B12 deficiency”. Do you possibly have friends and acquaintances who have been similarly misdiagnosed on account of a lack of understanding of the devastation a B12 deficiency can create?
NEUROLOGICAL EFFECTS OF A B12 DEFICIENCY
A B12 deficiency can result in adverse changes in the nervous system . Changes can include such troubles as soreness and weakness of the limbs, diminished reflexes and sensory perception, poor body temperature regulation, walking difficulties, stammering and tremors, depression, paranoia, listlessness, an acute state of confusion, hallucinations, delusions, insomnia, anxiety, psychosis, lack of mental alertness, mania, panic attacks, personality change and suicide. By now, you must be developing an authentic comprehension and respect for vitamin B12.
A B12 deficiency is something even a doctor might not think of looking for, or not find even if he did look. He could easily check the patient’s blood, find the blood levels of B12 relatively normal and presume there is no sign of anemia, and misdiagnose the problem. An early diagnosis of a B12 deficiency might not occur because the relationship of vitamin blood levels to the symptoms the patient is experiencing is not understood . This is a serious matter, because the end result of untreated cerebral or spinal lesions created by B12 deficiency may be severe dementia and paraplegia. These may be irreversible when treatment is delayed by failure in diagnosis.
In simpler terms, if B12 deficiency is not recognized in its early stages, it may result in permanent mental deterioration and paralysis. What makes vitamin B12 so important is its effect on myelin, the protective sheath that covers the spinal cord and other elements of the nervous system. Although the need for vitamin B12 is generally minute, if that small amount is missing, the result may be catastrophic . The myelin will begin to disintegrate and allow damage to the nervous system and possible psychosis.
B12 IS A GROWTH FACTOR, ADD & ADHD FACTOR
A review in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition supports the conclusion that B12 exerts a “growth-promoting” effect when given as a dietary supplement to children suffering from growth failure. With the increase in growth came other signs of improved health. Classroom teachers became aware that some of their students were improving in conduct , attitude, and scholastic work. At the same time, they showed less stress and fatigue, greater interest and attention, and demonstrated better all-around progress. Parents, also, concurred in these findings. After administering B12, the children showed a change in growth rate and had more physical energy . They were more alert, better behaved, and their appetites improved notably .
PREGNANCY MAKES BIG DEMANDS ON B12
Vitamin B12 can be stored in the body because it is water soluble. Every hopeful mother would do well to provide her liver with good stores of this essential nutrient, since pregnancy makes extraordinary demands on those stores. A woman has two strikes against her in regard to B12 reserves if she has been on the Pill. A research team from Ohio State University College of Medicine found that healthy women who were taking contraceptives experienced a rapid fall in serum B12 values by an average of 40 percent lower than the control group who had not taken contraceptives. The stress of pregnancy on the top of this depletion caused by the Pill can put both mother and the baby in peril as far as B12 reserves are concerned, unless the mother takes more of this vitamin than many prenatal vitamin supplements provide.
VEGETARIANS EASILY BECOME DEFICIENT
Vitamin B12 is distinctive from all the other members of the B vitamin family in another respect. Foods of animal origin are the only dietary source. It does not exist in any plant. You must eat such foods as meat, milk, eggs, cheese and organ meats, such as liver. Liver is by far the richest source of B12 from the diet. Vegetarians are very prone to a B12 deficiency and the associated neuropathies, such as wrist or ankle drop even without developing the anemia because of their avoidance of meat which excludes the main sources of dietary vitamin B12. All vegans should be taking a high quality B12 supplement. If you want the best B12 supplement, a good choice is TriVita sublingual B12, B6 and folic acid lozenges.
