What's vitamin B12?
Vitamin B12 is important for your body to keep your nerve cells and blood cells healthy. It also helps your body make DNA – the genetic material in all of your cells. The body does not make vitamin B12 on its own, so we have to consume it from our food and drinks. Vitamin B12 can be found in many animal products like meat and dairy. Without this important nutrient, we can develop a type of anemia which can be detrimental for our health, along with other physical, neurological and psychological problems.
Identifying B12 deficiency
Vitamin B12 deficiency happens when your body is either not getting enough vitamin B12 or is unable to properly absorb enough vitamin B12 from the food that you eat. This can hamper the body’s functioning.
Diagnosing B12 deficiency is quite a challenge. While anemia is a crucial side effect, it is not necessary to develop anemia and there can also be other signs which indicate that your body is lacking vitamin B12. It is important to be able to identify these signs and get a diagnosis by a health expert, as delay in treatment may have a large impact on the patient.
In its early stages, B12 deficiency is asymptomatic. Some signs of this deficiency can take a long time to appear as they build up over time. According to experts, there are two issues related to your hair that might be more noticeable signs.
Hair symptoms of B12 deficiency
Vitamin B12 helps in making red blood cells that carry oxygen to your hair follicles. As a result, when vitamin B12 levels are low, your hair follicles may not be able to grow new hair efficiently. This will result in hair loss. B12 deficiency can also lead to symptoms of anemia, which is linked with low iron levels, hair thinning, and hair loss. A survey published in The British Journal of Nursing showed that out of 1,000 patients, around 30 percent of them experienced either loss of hair, mouth ulcers or blurred vision.
If you're young and your hair is turning gray, it could be due to deficiency of vitamin B12. As per research, vitamin B12 deficiency may cause premature hair graying. According to a report published in Archives of Dermatology, hypopigmentation of the hair, or loss of hair color, has been reported with a deficiency of B12.
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Other general symptoms
Apart from hair loss and premature hair graying, vitamin B12 deficiency can also lead to a range of other symptoms. These include a strange drained feeling, dizziness, fainting, headache and migraine. Brittle nails could also be a sign of B12 deficiency.
Other symptoms include an increased susceptibility to infection, shortness of breath, hoarseness in vocal cords and muscle weakness and pains. If you lack vitamin B12 in your body or are unable to absorb it properly, you may also experience increased pulse, tinnitus, sensitivity to cold and feverish symptoms such as feelings of coming down with the flu. A person can suffer from one or many of the above-mentioned symptoms.
Effect of B12 deficiency on brain
Vitamin B12 deficiency can also affect your brain health. It can lead to cognitive decline, memory problems, concentration problems, disorientation, depression and mood swings such as weeping a lot, getting quickly irritated or outbursts of anger. Other complex health problems include anxiety, delirium, delusions, paranoia, manic behavior, hallucinations, psychosis, bipolar disorder, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Dementia and Alzheimer-like symptoms can also develop due to vitamin B12 deficiency. It is important to seek immediate medical treatment if you experience any such symptoms.
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Foods rich in vitamin B12
Increasing the intake of the foods rich in vitamin B12 may help in preventing and treating vitamin B12. If the deficiency is more severe, your doctor may recommend B12 supplements or injections.
Vitamin B12 is found in animal products such as meat like animal liver and kidney; and fish such as sardines, tuna, trout and salmon. Eggs are a great source of B vitamins, especially B2 and B12. Milk and dairy products such as yogurt and cheese are also good sources of vitamin B12. B12 can also be found in fortified foods – that have certain vitamins and nutrients added to them – such as certain cereals, bread and nutritional yeast.