Friday, July 03, 2009

Local doc talks B-12 deficiency

Lake County News-Sun
by Jim Newton

If you are feeling fatigued and moody, maybe even a bit forgetful, the culprit could be an easily remedied, but perhaps underdiagnosed, condition -- vitamin B-12 deficiency. After screening more than 1,000 of his patients over the past few years, Gurnee physician Andrew Savin said he is concerned that a trend toward vitamin B-12 deficiency, perhaps linked to modern diets, is slipping under the radar.

Traditionally, the deficiency has been linked to older people and is not part of routine screening during check-ups and physicals, Savin said. For those feeling tired and otherwise unwell, thyroid screening is more frequently implemented. But after discovering the vitamin deficiency in a few patients, Savin began screening vitamin B-12 levels more regularly and out of a group of 1,500 patients, he found 550 in the low or low-normal range. Statistically, 50 of these patients would be experiencing neuro-physical symptoms due to the deficiency. "That's a lot of people," Savin said. "Why do so many people have levels that low? I think it should be part of routine screening."

The good news is that the condition is easily treated with relatively high levels of the vitamin. While vitamin supplements may only contain 15 micrograms of vitamin B-12, Savin advises patients with low levels to take 1,000 to 2,000 micrograms a day. Some people just don't absorb the vitamin well, and for those patients, that old standby of the 1970s, the vitamin B-12 injection, is used to reach satisfactory levels, Savin said.

Because vitamin B-12 is only found naturally in animals, Savin said he suspects that the trend away from red meat and eggs could have something to do with an increase in vitamin B-12 deficiency. Additionally, both prescription and over-the-counter acid reducers can interfere with the vitamin's absorption. Savin said he is even concerned that in the long run, vitamin B-12 deficiencies in mothers could be linked to an increase in childhood obesity and diabetes in the United States, noting that there are also high levels of those problems in countries where diets lead to low levels of vitamin B-12. "I think the Centers for Disease Control should be looking at this," he said. "My concern is that it's causing more problems than we thought it could."

Bonnie - it is nice to see that another local health professional has taken such an interest in B-12 deficiency. Proton pump inhibitors, if used long-term, destroy B-12. This could be one of the reasons it has become so prevalent.

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