Collin County Living Well Magazine Fall 2013

Cognitive decline may be linked to inadequate vitamin B12 By Dr. Donna Barsky, D.Ph., R.Ph. here are so many new findings on how important our nutritional foundation is in relation to our longevity and quality of life that it is very difficult to keep up with the current trends. If you haven’t noticed by now, when you go to your physician for a yearly checkup we are now seeing, for the first time, routine levels being drawn for both vitamin D and vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 has many important functions in the body. It works with the B vitamin folate to make our body’s genetic material. It helps keep levels of the amino acid homocysteine in check, which may help decrease heart disease risk, and it is essential to the production of red blood cells, which carry oxygen through the blood to the body’s tissues. However, many people are deficient in B12. There are many reasons or causes of deficiency. Some individuals have digestive systems that do not adequately absorb the vitamin from the foods T they eat. This problem can increase as we age as well. Other causes could be pernicious anemia, which is the absence of a protein in the stomach called intrinsic factor, that must be present for absorption, atrophic gastritis, a thinning of the stomach lining that affects up to 30% of people aged 50 and older, surgery in which part of the stomach and/or small intestine is removed, excessive alcohol consumption or conditions such as Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, bacterial growth, Graves’ disease, lupus erythematosus or even long-term use of acid-reducing drugs such as Nexium, Prilosec, and Prevacid. The best sources of B12 are meat, eggs and milk, so vegetarians can also suffer deficiencies. So what are the symptoms? Weakness, or light-headedness, rapid heartbeat and labored breathing, pale skin, sore tongue, easy bruising including bleeding gums, stomach upset and weight loss, diarrhea or constipation. If the deficiency isn’t corrected, it can 20 Collin County Living Well Magazine • Fall 2013

Collin County Living Well Magazine Fall 2013 | Page 22