“B” aware
You’ve heard me talk about Alzheimer’s before in House Calls and in my newsletter, Health Revelations.
Today I want to look at one of the many links to Alzheimer’s: A deficiency of vitamin B12.
B vitamins are important because they allow neurotransmitters to function properly. In particular, B12 manufactures the insulating fatty sheath that forms around nerves, called myelin, and aids in the process of electrical impulses. And guess what many Alzheimer’s patients have been found to be deficient in? Vitamin B12.
Now it gets tricky: When there is a deficiency of B12, blood levels of homocysteine rise. Why is this not a good thing? Well, high levels of homocysteine are toxic to brain cells. It’s an oxidative amino acid, and you’ve heard me talk about the damage that oxidation can do in the body.
The very thought of being stricken by Alzheimer’s disease is enough to strike terror in anyone. It’s complex, difficult to diagnose, and a nasty thief of memory and personality. And to complicate things, there are a variety of possible causes, no viable treatment, and it appears to strike randomly.
There’s a glut of information, theories, and thoughts, but most people just want to know how they can prevent getting it in the first place. That answer seems to be just as elusive, and there’s a lot of “we don’t know” in the literature on the topic.
But I don’t believe in standing idly by and playing a game of watch-and-wait. I think most folks would agree: It’s better to try something other than just keeping your fingers crossed!
The best food sources of vitamin B12 are animal products such as beef liver, beef, poultry, fish and eggs. Plants do not contain useful forms of vitamin B12, so vegetarians usually need to supplement. As many folks grow older, they don’t eat enough B12-rich foods and can run into trouble. And the 50-to 100-microgram amounts found in most multivitamins may not be enough. It just depends on your B12 level.
It’s easy to find out if your body has enough vitamin B12, but it’s not by checking your blood B12 level, which is an unreliable indicator. Instead, you would want to check your methylmalonic (MMA) level. If your B12 levels are low, MMA builds up and actually registers at a high level, which is a much more accurate measure of your true levels. Many doctors do not know this, so you need to confidently point this out and ask that they confirm it for themselves.
If you’re at all concerned, check your MMA level with your next blood work. Then you’ll know what you’re working with, and how to best proceed. If you’re eating a balanced diet that includes the above foods, you most likely don’t need a supplement. If you do need a little extra, you should do just fine with the amount of B12 that is found in multivitamins, generally 50 to 100 micrograms. Still, you may require even more—it’s very individualized.
There are widely available oral forms that you put under your tongue for rapid, direct absorption into the bloodstream. Most of these are in either 500 microgram or 1,000 microgram doses. Vitamin B12 injections can be given in doses ranging from 1,000 micrograms to 5,000 micrograms, and are used by more nutritionally oriented doctors. They’ll treat a wide variety of conditions in this way, including anemia, asthma, fatigue, hepatitis, dementia, epilepsy, depression, nerve disorders, multiple sclerosis, and AIDS. B12 is very non-toxic and safe in these high doses.
A small number of people lack something called Intrinsic Factor (IF), which means they cannot absorb B12—even if they’re getting adequate amounts in their diet. Your doctor was taught this in medical school, and the obvious and severe lack of vitamin B12 this causes usually shows up on routine blood work as a certain type of anemia.
I do recommend—to be on the safe side—that you go ahead and have your MMA level checked. Then, consider including more B12-rich foods in your diet plus supplements, if necessary. And as always, I recommend you work with an experienced practitioner. You’re just better off in the long run!
I want to provide strategies, not a bunch of hemming and hawing. You can get plenty of that in the mainstream.
Editor’s note: For more about antioxidants and to get Dr. Inglis’ own “Top 10”, take a look at the May issue of Health Revelations.
