Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Vitamin B12 is a water soluable vitamin which means the body does not store it and requires daily doses to be healthy. Vitamin B12 deficiency is caused by an inability of the body to absorb vitamin B12 or a lack of vitamin B12 in the diet. Vitamin B12 is essential for many aspects of health, such as production of red blood cells in the blood, normal growth and development, the production of nerves, skin, hair and genes and normal metabolism. This vitamin is essential for everyone and making sure you are getting your recommended amounts is very important. B12 deficiency amoung pregnant women is extremely important for fetal growth since B12 is responsible for DNA, normal growth and development. If a pregnant women has a B!@ deficiency, her baby most likely will have a Neural Tube Defect such as Spina Bifida, which is a birth defect in which the backbone and spinal canal do not close before birth. A newborn may have a sac sticking out of the mid to lower back.

Symptoms include:
•Loss of bladder or bowel control
•Partial or complete lack of sensation
•Partial or complete paralysis of the legs
•Weakness of the hips, legs, or feet of a newborn

Other B12 deficiencies may cause Pernicious anemia, an abnormal condition in which there is a decrease in the number of red blood cells in the blood. Pernicious anemia is caused by a lack of vitamin B12, which is vital to the normal develoment of red blood cells.