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Today We Need To Circle Back On The B12 Issue
In the last B12 article I made several important points:
B12 deficiency is still the #1 missed diagnosis in America.
Go back and read #1 AGAIN! It bears repeating.
B12 deficiency is very common, effecting 1 out of 20 in the general population, but increases with age to afflict 1 out of 5 people over 60.
To correctly diagnose B12 deficiency you must test both the B12 level and methylmalonic acid.
If you eat some combination of meat, eggs and/or cheese you have plenty of B12 in your diet, thus if you are deficient it is because you are not absorbing it correctly. If you don't absorb B12 from food, you won't absorb B12 from pills either.
Because B12 pills don't work, the only real solution to B12 deficiency is B12 shots.
If you want details on these points, go back and read the article.
But I Failed to Make One Very Important Point:
B12 Shots Are Highly Therapeutic
Shoulder Bursitis: Acute subdeltoid bursitis of the shoulder can come on so fast and is so painful it is frightening to many people unfortunate enough to experience it. Over fifty years ago a doctor named Irving S. Klemes conducted a study with 40 patients suffering from acute subdeltoid bursitis of the shoulder. He treated each patient with B12 shots. Within a month 37 of the 40 patients found relief from the bursitis and some of the patients were completely pain free within just a few hours of taking the first B12 shot.
Bursitis: JV Wright of the Tahoma Clinic published a paper of a clinical trial using B12 shots to treat bursitis in multiple locations (shoulder, elbow, hip, knee, etc) and found B12 shots provided "remarkable relief".
Low Back Pain and Neuralgia: In 2019, The Pain Physician published a narrative review finding that B12 shots were effective for the treatment of low back pain and neuralgia.
Low Back Pain and Sciatica: Another journal reported a double blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial of B12 shots for low back pain and sciatica. Those receiving the B12 shots had significantly greater reduction in pain and disability and used less oral pain medicine. This was true even for patients that did not have B12 deficiency. (Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2000 May-Jun;4(3):53-8).
Memory Loss: A B12 deficiency has been strongly linked to impaired cognition and memory loss in older adults. Vitamin B12 shots has been linked to improved brain processes, and improved memory.
Obesity: Many people have a slow metabolism, leading to easy weight gain and persistent tiredness. B12 shots, can get the metabolism back up to speed. A higher metabolism burns calories faster making it easier to lose weight. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that people with lower blood levels of vitamin B12 are more likely to be overweight or obese.
Depression: One study suggests that vitamin B12 deficiency is related to a higher risk for a person becoming depressed. Getting the proper amount of vitamin B12 into your body will help lift your mood and may lessen feelings of depression. Some research suggests that antidepressants work better when a patient also receives added vitamin B12.
Osteoporosis: People with vitamin B12 deficiency tend to have significantly lower bone density. That means people who are deficient in B12 are at a much greater risk of suffering broken bones. Studies have show that boosting B12 levels helps prevent your bones from becoming brittle and weak and leads to reduced fracture risk.
As you can see, B12 has many benefits, and virtually no side affects or contraindications.
Almost half of senior citizens take 5 or more prescription drugs daily. Most of these heavily medicated people would need less drugs and feel better with the wise use of B12.
And lets not forget that B12 deficiency is still considered to be the #1 missed diagnosis in America.
Big Pharma is not interested in B12 as it can't be patented and there is no money to be made.
You should insist on knowing your B12 level!
Would B12 Be Beneficial To You?
Take care and BE HEALTHY! CW Jasper June 2023 © 2023· Content is Property Created by CW Jasper
I am so glad you addressed the B-12 deficiency issue in two articles recently-- bigger issue than I thought! I have suspected malabsorption and thought the sublingual drops worked okay (and did think I could detect a change in energy/mood when using them) but have never had my levels checked and you have inspired me to request that at my annual check up next month and urge my elderly parents to also do so. Thank you.
Dr, Jasper, Although Vitamin B12 is very important for ones overall health, is it better to take the whole compliment of B vitamins in concert with B12? Is B12 more effective taken with recommended doses of the rest of the B vitamins or can it be effective by itself? Great article!!