Top Three Reasons Why You Should Get A Vitamin B12 Test

Vitamin B12 is one of the B complex vitamins. Generally, B complex vitamins help in the conversion of food to energy, but Vitamin B12 has an essential role in the production of healthy red blood cells. Unless the deficiency of the vitamin is inherited, it is very rare for children to be deficient of B12. But, as you grow older, you become more prone to B12 deficiency. Certain medical conditions and diseases are caused by B12 deficiency, and here are several reasons why you should get a Vitamin B12 test.

First, Vitamin B12 deficiency can mean that you have pernicious anemia. Pernicious anemia is a decrease in red blood cells that takes place when the intestines are not able to properly absorb B12. Red blood cells play the crucial role of carrying oxygen from the lungs to cells throughout the body. Since B12 is essential in producing healthy red blood cells, the inability of the body to absorb it results to the decrease of healthy red blood cells. The common symptoms of pernicious anemia include fatigue, loss of appetite, diarrhea or constipation, and bleeding gums. However, because the body can store B12 for a long period of time, the symptoms of pernicious anemia usually do not appear for years.

Second, Vitamin B12 deficiency increases your risk of developing prion diseases, which are neurodegenerative progressive disorders described by CDC as rapidly progressive and always fatal. Prions are misshapen proteins, and when they are exposed to your tissue, they cause the previously health proteins of your cells to become misshapen as well. Prions can destroy tissues in your nervous system, causing prion diseases. One of these is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is the human equivalent of mad cow disease.

Third, if Vitamin 12 deficiency is left untreated, you can develop an irreversible nervous system damage. Its symptoms include numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, confusion, loss of balance, and depression.

A Vitamin B12 test includes physical examination and laboratory tests. During the physical examination, the doctor would look for red and swollen tongue, pale skin, and rapid pulse. Moreover, standard blood tests are conducted to measure the level of your red blood cells and check their appearance. If you have B12 deficiency, your red blood cells are unusually large.

To maintain the recommended levels of Vitamin B12 in your body, your diet should include animal foods. Beef liver, shellfish, poultry, eggs, milk and milk products are good sources of B12. Dietary supplements such as vitamin B12 liquid drops can also protect you from B12 deficiency.

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