Vitamin B12 Deficiency In Pregnancy Symptoms
The neurological symptoms of vitamin b12 deficiency can occur without anemia so early diagnosis and intervention is important to avoid irreversible damage.
Vitamin b12 deficiency in pregnancy symptoms. We rely on a regular dietary intake of b12. Vitamin b 12 deficiency also known as cobalamin deficiency is the medical condition of low blood and tissue levels of vitamin b 12. In mild deficiency a person may feel tired and have a reduced number of red blood cells anemia. Your risk for deficiency can be assessed by your doctor based on symptoms diet your prior medical and surgical.
These usually develop gradually but can worsen if the condition goes untreated. If you lack b12 whether due to your diet or poor absorption you would experience fatigue shortness of breath muscle weakness dizziness poor vision pale or yellow skin a smooth tongue and even vitiligo. Webmd tells you about symptoms of a vitamin b12 deficiency and how it can be treated. Anaemia is where you have fewer red blood cells than normal or you have an abnormally low amount of a substance called haemoglobin in each red blood cell.
As b12 plays as important role in new tissue. Symptoms of vitamin b12 deficiency are so varied that it s often difficult to diagnose the deficiency on the basis of symptoms alone. In normal pregnancy b12 levels fall by 30 by the third trimester of pregnancy1. Vitamin b12 or folate deficiency anaemia can cause a wide range of symptoms.
A b12 deficiency can sometimes be mistaken for a folate deficiency. Vitamin b 12 deficiency can result from a diet lacking in vitamin b 12 which is found mainly in meat eggs and milk. Vitamin b12 deficiency symptoms vitamin b12 is an essential vitamin with many health benefits that cannot be produced by the body itself. Vitamin b12 is essential for good health but some people may not be getting enough.
The vitamin is stored in the liver so that a small shortage can be compensated for and it is only once levels fall significantly that more severe symptoms occur. Particularly in pregnancy however b12 deficiency should be excluded in women with unexplained anaemia or in women who fail to respond to treatment for iron deficiency anaemia. However the most common cause of vitamin b 12 deficiency anemia is a lack of a substance called intrinsic factor which can be caused when your immune system mistakenly attacks the stomach cells that produce this substance. B12 deficiency is rare.
However in many cases the cause of vitamin b12 deficiency is unknown he says.