Vitamin B12 is an important water-soluble vitamin, also called cobalamin. It is one of the groups of 8 B vitamins. Vitamin B12 Deficiency can lead to many complications in the body. Today we will let you know some noticeable signs and symptoms of Vitamin B12 Deficiency.

Role of Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 helps the body convert carbohydrates (food) into glucose for energy production

It helps the body in consumption of fats and protein.

It is required for healthy skin, hair, eyes, and liver.

Vitamin B12 Plays An important role in the normal functioning of the brain and the nervous system.

It is required in the metabolism of every cell in the body.

The human body generates millions of red blood cells (RBC) every minute, but without vitamin B12, cells cannot multiply properly. The production of RBC goes down if an individual’s vitamin B12 levels are too low. As the RBC count drops, anaemia occurs.

How do we know we are vitamin B12 deficient?

The signs and symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency are often not very specific, so it can go unnoticed for a long period of time.

It is also easily mistaken for other disease or conditions and therefore remains misdiagnosed for a long time.

By the time vitamin B12 deficiency gets detected, there might be some irreversible damage done already.

A careful consulting and a blood test are needed. You are considered to be vitamin B12 deficient if your concentration of vitamin B12 is less than 150 pmol/L.

Here are signs and symptoms of a vitamin B12 deficiency. Below is the list of some noticeable signs and symptoms of Vitamin B12 Deficiency. Dizziness Frequent attacks of dizziness and vertigo can indicate a vitamin B12 deficiency. A deficient person may experience a feeling of wobbles when he gets up too fast from a sitting position. He may also feel dizzy when he walks up or downstairs, it could also be dangerous. Chronic vertigo symptoms should be brought to the doctor’s attention, so a person can be given the required treatment immediately for vitamin deficiency. Pale or Jaundiced Skin A person with vitamin B12 deficiency often look pale or have a slight yellow tinge to the skin and whites of the eyes, a condition known as jaundice. This happens when a lack of vitamin B12 causes problems with your body’s RBC (red blood cell) production. Vitamin B12 plays an important role in the production of the DNA required to produce RBCs. Without that, the instructions for building the RBCs are incomplete, and cells are unable to divide. This causes a type of anaemia known as megaloblastic anemia, in which the RBCs produced in the bone marrow are large and fragile. These RBCs are too large to pass out of your bone marrow and into your circulation. Therefore, you don’t have as many red blood cells (RBC) circulating around the body and hence your skin can appear pale in colour. The fragility of such cells also means that many of them break down, causing an excess production of bilirubin. Large amounts of bilirubin are responsible to give your skin and eyes a yellow tinge.