Natural Health Care

What are the main causes of vitamin B12 deficiency?

The B12 is a vitamin that is present primarily in meat and offal, but also contain a lesser amount, fish, eggs and milk. When ingested any of these foods are put in place a transport mechanism rather complex and absorption of this vitamin that requires the mediation of several proteins produced and secreted by cells of the stomach and pancreas.

Finally the ileum, the last portion of the small intestine, the place where you just absorbing. The cells of the ileum subsequently released into the blood attached to a carrier protein called transcobalamin 2, which distributes throughout the body where needed.

If we consider this simple scheme, we can better understand what can go wrong in each case the end does not end up vitamin B12 reaching those tissues where it is needed.A possible cause of B12 deficiency is the absence of vitamin absorption by the terminal small intestine (ileum). This can occur by the existence of abundant bacteria or parasites in the gut and consume vitamin and steal available food that is coming from the digestion can also occur due to loss of bowel segment responsible for the absorption as in those people who have been removed, the ileum, or chronic inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease).

Another possible cause is a defect in the production of proteins pancreatic or stomach needed to transport vitamin B12 on its way to the ileum as in exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (when the pancreas does not produce or properly secreted digestive juice) or in patients without a stomach (having been operated on). There are also default B12 absorption in patients with acid hypersecretion syndrome (to destroy the excess acid to those proteins responsible for joining the vitamin).

However the cause of B12 deficiency anemia is most common of all that gives rise to pernicious anemia. In this disease, which occurs most typically in older people, the problem is a mistake of the immune system which eventually destroy the stomach cells responsible for secretion of intrinsic factor, the most important protein for the proper absorption of final vitamin B12 in the ileum. This disease also is losing the ability to produce stomach acid juice and gastric mucosa is atrophied. Good to know that this atrophic gastric mucosa increases the risk it degenerates over time into stomach cancer.

Insufficient absorption of vitamin B12 may also occur in the vegan diet (no milk or eggs) because this vitamin virtually absent from vegetables, but this practice is rare.

Babies can also suffer from various congenital diseases resulting in any B12 deficiency anemia, but usually these pictures are usually diagnosed by the pediatrician before the age of two years of age.

credit to: Dr. Alfonso José Santiago Marí, Dr. Flemming Andersen, Dr. Patrick Davey, Dra. Rachel Green

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