Vitamins B12 Levels: Why Should You Check Your Vitamin B12 Levels?

by pradeep s. Healthians |Affordable Health Tests

Understanding vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin for good health and supports various bodily functions including your brain health, nerve functioning, and blood cell production. Individuals, who follow a well-balanced diet, rarely get a low Vitamin B12 level. 

 

Why should you check your vitamin B 12 levels?

However, there are reasons that you should check your vitamin B12 levels. Your doctor may suggest you the vitamin B12 test in the following conditions

• If you have been diagnosed with pernicious anemia, celiac disease, Crohn's disease, and atrophic gastritis. 
• If you have a medical condition that affects your ability to consume B12
• If you are consuming medicines that may prevent B12 absorption
• If you feel symptoms of having low B12 levels
• If you are vegetarian
• If you have other problems include weakness, moodiness, headaches, fuzzy thinking, fatigue, loss of appetite, dementia, confusion, a racing heart, and tingling in the hands and feet.  

 

Medications affecting vitamin B12 levels

There are several types of medications that affect your B12 levels including medicine metformin for diabetes, drugs to cure gastroesophageal reflux disease, and proton pump inhibitors. Your body does not directly provide vitamin B-12 however, you may get it from various sources including fish, meat, and dairy, cereals and milk.

 

Who is at higher Risk of Low vitamin B12 levels?

There is a group of people who are likely to get low vitamin B-12 including older adults, children, vegans, strict vegetarians, people with diabetes, and people who have gastric bypass surgery. New mothers may also test their vitamin B12 levels if they also feel symptoms. If a breastfeeding mother finds out low levels of B-12, her newborn is at higher risk for neurological damage and developmental problems. 

 

What does Vitamin B12 Test do?

There are multiple ways to test your b12 levels. Your healthcare provider may take a home urine test or draw your blood. A Vitamin B12 Test may tell you whether your b12 level is low, high, or moderate. The vitamin b12 test can examine your overall b12 levels, methylmalonic acid (MMA), homocysteine, and holotranscobalamin (holoTC). The doctor recommends that MMA and holoTC can give a more authentic reading of low B12 levels as these tests can represent the active b12 levels.  

 

Complications of low and high vitamin B-12 levels

Low B-12 levels can cause temporary unproductiveness in women, memory loss, lasting nerve damage, anemia, an internal parasite, hyperthyroidism, and decaying brain function. However, people who are overweight or consume plenty of meat may get high B-12 levels. It may lead to various serious health issues including diabetes, kidney failure, liver disease, and certain types of leukemia. It may also be possible to get low or high B12 levels regardless of having any underlying condition. 

 

It is imperative to check your vitamin B12 levels if you feel symptoms. Low and high vitamin B12 levels may lead to serious health issues therefore, a vitamin b12 test can help your healthcare to find out any underlying medical condition and other health issues in your body. 

 

 

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Created on May 19th 2021 07:16. Viewed 356 times.

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