Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)

Overview:

Vitamin B12 is required to make red blood cells, to maintain the protective sheath around nerves, and to synthesize DNA. It comes almost entirely from animal foods, and absorbing it requires both stomach acid and intrinsic factor, so deficiency can result from diet, from pernicious anemia, from stomach or bowel surgery, and from long-term use of acid-reducing medications or metformin. Deficiency causes a form of anemia with enlarged red cells, and separately can cause nerve symptoms that may not fully reverse if treatment is delayed. Borderline results are often clarified with methylmalonic acid.

Categories:

Vitamins & Nutrients, Blood

Biomarkers:

1 biomarker