What Causes Vitamin B12 Deficiency?

Posted on Wed, 5 Aug 2015

Question: VitaminB12 deficiency symptoms and causes?

Answered by Dr. Sandip Kabra (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
symptoms and causes are mentioned below.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to health care magic,

A deficiency of vitamin B12 can lead to vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia.

A mild deficiency may cause only mild symptoms but if it left untreated then it may cause symptoms like

Weakness, tiredness, or fatigue
Fast heartbeat and breathing,
Sore tongue,
Pale skin
Easy bruising or bleeding,
Stomach upset and Diarrhoea or constipation.

If you are suspecting one or more symptoms as mentioned above then you can ask your doctor for a blood test of serum vitamin B12.

The causes of deficiency of vitamin B12 are,

1) Atrophic gastritis or Pernicious anaemia (low absorption vitamin B12)
2) Crohn's disease, celiac disease,
3) Heavy drinking
4)Immune system disorders,like Graves' disease or lupus
5) Long-term use of acid-reducing drugs.

If you need more information then you can ask me.

Regards,

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Neel Kudchadkar