According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study, approximately 3.2 percent of adults over 50 are severely vitamin B12 deficient, while up to 20 percent may be borderline deficient. And even a short-term deficiency can lead to problems. According to a study published in the New England Journal, one 62-year-old man who had vitamin B deficiency developed a number of serious symptoms over the course of only two months: including difficulty walking, joint pain, jaundice, and tingling in his extremities.
What is Vitamin B?
Vitamin B, most importantly vitamin B12, is a water-soluble vitamin that’s found in a number of animal products, from fish and meat to eggs and dairy products. This vitamin is essential for DNA synthesis, and facilitates the formation of red blood cells in the body. A lack of vitamin B can lead to anemia.
The body uses stomach acid to release the B12 protein from food during digestion, combines it with a substance called intrinsic factor (IF), and absorbs it into the bloodstream, where it is collected and stored in the liver. In a healthy body, there are several years’ worth of vitamin B12 being stored at any time, making vitamin B deficiency relatively rare. However, when the body is unable to properly digest food, or when there are factors that affect the health of the liver (such as alcoholism), this deficiency can occur.