We’re frequently asked in our comment section about: vitamin b12 blood test range. Truth is we’ve been delaying this article for a while until we had enough information & facts to allow us to enlighten our readers.
Do I Need The Test?
Your doctor may recommend you have one for a few different reasons, such as: You’ve been diagnosed with anemia. They suspect you have a medical condition that affects how well your body absorbs B12. You’re taking medications that may interfere with B12 absorption.
You follow a vegan or strict vegetarian diet. Without it, you can’t absorb enough vitamin B12 from food. Crohn’s disease and celiac disease may also cause your B12 levels to go down.
A blood test that checks your B12 levels can rule out or confirm that your low B12 levels may be the issu.
Why Is A Vitamin B-12 Level Test Useful?
The results can help doctors to determine if abnormal vitamin B-12 levels are causing symptoms. Researchers believe that up to 15 percent of people in the United States have vitamin B-12 deficiency.
Signs and symptoms of deficiency include: confusion
dementia
depression
difficulty maintaining balance
fast heartbeat
numbness and tingling in the hands and feet
poor memory
a sore mouth or tongue Infants with vitamin B-12 deficiency may fail to thrive. It often affects older adults or those who are lacking intrinsic factor. Symptoms of pernicious anemia include: constipation
fatigue
loss of appetite
pale skin
weakness
weight loss High serum folate levels Serum folate is the level of folic acid in the blood.
They can also increase the likelihood of anemia.
How The Test Is Performed
Certain medicines may affect the results of this test. Your health care provider will tell you if you need to stop taking any medicines.
Medicines that can affect the test result includ.
What Is Vitamin B12?
(Methyl)cobalamin, more commonly known as vitamin B12, is an essential dietary nutrient. The richest sources of vitamin B12 are animal products such as meat, fish, and dairy [8, 9].
The body uses vitamin B12 very wisely, simultaneously using, recycling, and storing it. In fact, a healthy person can store up to 3 – 6 years’ worth of vitamin B12 in their liver. For this reason, vitamin B12 deficiencies are quite rare and usually result from a very long-term shortage [10].
You are at a higher risk of B12 shortage if you are:
Vegan or vegetarian [11, 12, 13]
Pregnant or breastfeeding [14, 15]
A heavy alcohol drinker [16, 17]
Obese [18, 19, 20]
Suffering from a gut disorder that reduces your ability to absorb dietary B12 (such as Crohn’s disease) [21, 22, 23]
Older, as the gut becomes less efficient at absorbing nutrients with age [24, 25, 22]
Infected with HIV/AIDS [26, 27].