One in 10 older people may be deficient in a vital nutrient, health watcher warns.Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient needed by the body.
Found in many animal products such as meat, cheese and eggs, it supports healthy blood and nerve cells in the body.
The vitamin is used to produce healthy red blood cells, which allows the body's tissues to be supplied with oxygen. Deficiency can therefore be far-reaching, causing a range of debilitating symptoms.
The health authority has now warned that older people are more at risk of B12 deficiency than ever before, due in part to the rise of veganism.
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Doctors should check older people for B12 deficiency more frequently.
“One in 20 people over the age of 60 and one in 10 over the age of 75 may have a B12 deficiency. Common symptoms include feeling weak or tired, confusion or 'brain fog', and mental health problems such as depression, which can make it difficult to diagnose, because it can be mistaken for something else,” says neurologist Alexandra Alyokhina, especially for MedikForum.
Under the new guidelines, physicians are asked to perform a blood test for deficiency if a patient has only one symptom and one risk factor for the condition.
Risk factors include:
- Age of patient, especially if aged 65 or older.
- Family history of B12 deficiency.
- Following a plant-based diet.
The reason older people are more at risk for deficiency is because the body becomes less able to absorb B12.
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“If left untreated, B12 deficiency can become severe, leading to anemia, vision problems, mobility problems, and delirium.”
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