If you’re here then you’ve probably Google’d about: vitamin b12 is it iron.
Vitamin B-12
On the other hand, their relationship with one another is not the extent of their significance. The body requires both independently for different reasons and without either, health complications can result. Video of the Day
Vitamin B-12
Vitamin B-12 is another name for cobalamin.
The body requires B-12 for metabolism, the maintenance of the nervous system and the production of red blood cells. Symptoms of a B-12 deficiency includes tingling, numbness, weakness, imbalance and anemia. The common term for an iron deficiency is anemia, which causes several blood-related health complications.
Symptoms of anemia include pallid skin, shortness of breath, dizziness, brittle nails, extreme fatigue, fast heartbeat, oral inflammation or pain, weakness, irritability, headache, poor appetite, unusual cravings and restless leg syndrome. The appropriate dosage per day of iron is 8 milligrams per day and 10 milligrams per day for breastfeeding women. Advertisement
Vitamin B-12 and Iron
One of the primary causes of iron deficiency is blood loss.
Given the body requires vitamin B-12 to produce red blood cells, a deficiency in vitamin B-12 can directly lead to a deficiency in iron. Another B-complex vitamin, B-9, folate binds to red blood cells when there is an iron deficiency. However, much like anemia, folate absorption by red blood cells could result immediately following a B-12 deficiency, given that it directly results in an iron deficiency.
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By contrast, iron deficiency and low levels of serum vitamin B12 with normal metabolic markers were often found mostly in young adults. In this work, vitamin B12/folate changes were investigated during treatment of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) with pharmacological iron in young adult women. Results: Treatment with iron increased significantly serum folate and vitamin B12 from baseline.
This increase was also observed in vitamin B12 levels ≤200 pmol/L (six patients, 17.1%), in whom serum vitamin B12 was above 200 pmol/L at the end of the study in all cases. Other biochemical parameters also changed. These changes normalize after iron therapy, even in women with baseline low levels of serum vitamin B12.
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S B12 and folate are necessary for the production of the red blood cells (erythrocytes), which carry oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and carbon dioxide from tissues to lungs. Deficiency of either one results in anaemia, which is characterised by low haemoglobin concentration. Symptoms result from reduced tissue oxygenation and include weakness, lethargy, palpitation, headache and shortness of breath.
Medicine
A careful assessment of clinical symptoms and signs is indispensable to guide appropriate requesting and interpretation of relevant laboratory tests. Every effort should be made to determine the cause of the nutritional deficiency and to treat it where possible. Correcting the deficiency with supplements is usually straightforward, provided adherence to treatment is ensured.
Blood transfusion should be avoided unless symptoms dictate otherwis.