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For some, brain fog is what happens when you drink too much cough medicine or stay up late at night. For others, people with vitamin B12 deficiency, pernicious anemia, or fibromyalgia, brain fog is part of everyday life. In fact, many people who experience brain fog have had it all their lives, and don’t remember a time when they didn’t have trouble remembering numbers, responding with clever banter, or finding their way out of a parking lot…
This is Part I of Brain Fog, which focuses on causes and symptoms. Part II is Brain Fog: 20 ways to deal
What is brain fog?
Brain fog is a lot easier to describe than it is to define, since scientists are not sure exactly what causes it, and most doctors don’t recognize it as a medical condition, but rather a symptom of other illnesses.
Here are some terms people use to describe their brain fog:
Mental fuzziness or confusion that is caused by a primary illness, condition, or other stimuli like food, drugs, or lifestyle habit
Cognitive dysfunction
Fibro haze
Brain drain
Brain farts
Space case
Stupid- This is wrong! Having brain fog does not mean that you are less intelligent than others are. It only means that you have a real disorder with real symptoms, and brain fog is one of them.
What are the symptoms of brain fog?
Most people who suffer brain fog say that they feel tired all the time, even after getting a good night’s rest. But there are lots of other seemingly unrelated symptoms that indicate brain fog besides feeling like you always have a dark cloud over your head.
Here are some of the most common symptoms of brain fog:
Fatigue
Short-term memory loss- forgetting recent reminders, shopping lists, things you talked about a few days ago
Difficulty with math- adding in your head, sequencing, remembering numbers
Forgetting what you were going to say in conversation
Difficulty concentrating or focusing while reading
Difficulty recalling words that should be on the tip of your tongue
Low attention span
Easily confused
Getting lost easily, even in familiar places
Difficulty thinking clearly
Difficulty with multitasking
Difficulty solving problems
Depression
Anxiety
Low spatial awareness- stepping on others’ feet, for example
Absentmindedness
Low learning curve
Difficulty learning new skills
Low energy
Loss of creativity
What causes brain fog?
Since brain fog is not really a medical or psychiatric term, we likewise don’t have a specific answer as to what causes it. Brain fog is linked with lack of sleep, dementia, chronic pain, brain disorders, vitamin deficiencies, and unusual blood flow to the brain.
Here are 20 conditions and illness known to cause brain fog:
Chronic fatigue syndrome is more than just simple exhaustion- it makes you feel sluggish, cranky, and confused, even if you’ve had plenty of sleep and have no reason to feel so tired. Chronic fatigue occurs with illnesses like vitamin B12 deficiency, fibromyalgia, and celiac disease. So, is chronic fatigue syndrome just a symptom telling you that something’s not right, or is it a separate disease of its own?
What is chronic fatigue syndrome?
To quote the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is “a debilitating and complex disorder characterized by profound fatigue that is not improved by bed rest and that may be worsened by physical or mental activity.”
People with CFS wake up feeling tired, wiped out, as if they have just finished running in a marathon, even though they have not even gotten up from bed. Because CFS sometimes includes pain symptoms, people think it is similar to fibromyalgia. It’s not- Almost all people with fibromyalgia suffer from fatigue, but not all CFS sufferers experience chronic pain. (Read more about fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia- Is there a Difference?)
How is chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosed?
Determining CFS can be complicated, as there are currently no diagnostic tests available. Before a doctor can diagnose CFS, he has to use the process of elimination to exclude all other possible illnesses.
The patient must have been suffering from chronic fatigue for longer than six months, despite having normal sleeping habits.
The patient must not be suffering with any mental illness that has fatigue as a main symptom.
The patient must have at least four of the qualifying symptoms for chronic fatigue syndrome.
What are the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome?
People with chronic fatigue syndrome suffer from mental and physical pain that interfere with daily life. For some, CFS means losing the ability to care for oneself or dependents, not having the energy to do simple tasks, and facing skepticism from friends, family, and other acquaintances who think it’s all “in your head.”
The following symptoms enable a physician to give a proper diagnosis of CFS:
Short-term memory loss
Frequent sore throat
Muscular pain
Unusual headaches
Sore lymph nodes
Joint pain where no inflammation is evident
Fatigue that is not relieved by sleep
Severe exhaustion following even minimal physical activity, requiring a full day’s recuperation
Severe mental exhaustion following exams, or other mental exercises
Other symptoms that may occur with CFS but do not influence diagnoses include:
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Brain fog (confusion)
Chills
Depression and anxiety
Visual impairments
Hypersensitivity to foods, scents, sounds, or light
Fainting
Difficulty maintaining balance
What causes chronic fatigue syndrome?
The exact cause of CFS is unknown, but scientists theorize the following possibilities:
Virus infection
Vitamin deficiency (such as vitamin B12 deficiency)
Autoimmune disorder
Hormonal imbalance
Hypotension (low blood pressure)
What are the best treatments for chronic fatigue?
The primary goal in treating patients with CFS is to provide relief from the debilitating symptoms, since there is no cure for the actual disease itself. Unfortunately, finding the right treatment is just as complicated as diagnosing it- it’s a long process that requires time, patience, and a willingness to try new strategies.
Here are some popular options for treating chronic fatigue syndrome:
Alternative medicine- acupuncture, vitamin B12 supplements, progressive relaxation, yoga, massage, and aquatic therapy
Visiting a support group for CFS
Antidepressants
Treatments for orthostatic instability, the inability to remain in an upright position
Please tell us…
If you have chronic fatigue syndrome, do you also suffer from fibromyalgia? Have you had your vitamin B12 levels tested? Please feel free to share your opinions on this article.
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Rickets and scurvy aren’t the only types of vitamin deficiencies; many vitamin deficiencies such as vitamin B12 deficiency (eg: pernicious anemia) and vitamin D deficiency cause debilitating symptoms like nerve damage, depression, heart disease, and memory loss. In some cases, you can develop a vitamin deficiency even while eating a healthy diet of lean meats, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods.
Vitamin A (Retinol) deficiency
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble nutrient that can be found in animal-based products and plant-based foods like Romaine lettuce, carrots, yams, cantaloupe, and peaches. Vitamin A is crucial for good vision, cell production, and healthy development in the womb. In today’s age, vitamin A deficiency is rare. Unless you specifically avoid eating foods that contain vitamin A and beta-carotene, you will probably not get this vitamin deficiency.
Symptoms of vitamin A deficiency are:
Dry eyes
Skin rashes
Night blindness
Diarrhea
People at risk for vitamin A deficiency are:
Alcoholics
People who are not able to digest fat due to an illness; individuals with celiac disease, cystic fibrosis, or cholestasis should have their vitamin A levels checked routinely.
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) deficiency
Thiamine is a B vitamin that is essential for boosting energy, building muscle, and sustaining a healthy nervous system. Thiamine deficiency causes Beriberi disease, an illness that causes gastrointestinal disorders, peripheral neuropathy, heart disease, and muscular pain.
Symptoms of vitamin B1 deficiencyare:
Fatigue
Depression
Stomach cramps
Difficulty digesting carbohydrates
People at risk for vitamin B1 deficiency are:
People from countries who eat polished white rice that has been stripped of nutritious rice bran as a staple food item
Vitamin B2 deficiency is almost unheard of in of itself. Usually, is somebody has vitamin B1 deficiency, they are also suffering from various other nutritional deficiencies at the same time, such as vitamin D deficiency and vitamin B12 deficiency.
Symptoms of vitamin B2 deficiency are:
Fatigue
Stomach problems
Painful cracks and sores at the corners of your mouth
Tired eyes
Swollen tongue
Sore throat
Hypersensitivity to light
People at risk for vitamin B2 deficiency are:
People from poorer populations or underdeveloped countries who do not have access to nutritionally dense foods
Alcoholics
People with chronic diarrhea, such as Crohn’s disease
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) deficiency
Vitamin B6 is one of many essential B vitamins; vitamin B6 aids in cognitive development and maintaining the nervous system. Vitamins B6, B12, and B9 work together to lower homocysteine levels, a hormone that increases your risk for heart disease.
Symptoms of vitamin B6 deficiency are
Muscular feebleness
Short-term memory loss
Depression
Difficulty concentrating
Vitamin B6 is rare, but the following individuals are sometimes at risk:
The elderly
Pregnant women
Women taking oral birth control
Vitamin B9 (Folic acid) deficiency
Folic acid, or folate, is a B vitamin that is crucial for production of DNA and RNA during fetal development, infancy, and adolescence. Folic acid also works together with vitamin B12 to produce red blood cells and assist in iron absorption.
Symptoms of vitamin B9 deficiency are:
Fatigue
Sore tongue
Gum disease
Shortness of breath
Diarrhea
Short-term memory loss
Reduced appetite
People at risk for vitamin B9 deficiency are:
Alcoholics
Pregnant women
People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
People with celiac disease
Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) deficiency
Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble B vitamin that occurs in animal-based foods like beef, chicken, fish, shellfish, eggs, cheese, and milk. Vitamin B12 is essential for energy, healthy DNA, red blood cell production, cognitive functioning, and a health nervous system. Vitamin B12 deficiency differs from other kinds of malnourishment in that it can occur even when nutritional guidelines for vitamin B12 consumption are being met.
Symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency are:
Fatigue
Depression
Anxiety
Short-term memory loss
Difficulty concentrating
Painful tingling in the hands and feet
Sore, red tongue
Frequent clumsiness and stumbling
People at risk for vitamin B12 deficiency are:
Individuals who eat a vegan diet
Diabetics taking metformin
GERD sufferers or pregnant women taking protein pump inhibitors (PPIs)
People with pernicious anemia who lack intrinsic factor
People who suffer from gastrointestinal symptoms, such as Crohn’s disease, colitis, migraines, fibromyalgia, gluten intolerance, or celiac disease
People who have had gastric bypass surgery
Any individuals who have had surgery involving the removal of the ileum
The elderly
Alcoholics
Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) deficiency
Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin found in tomatoes, citrus fruits, broccoli, and potatoes. Vitamin C is crucial for healing wounds, growing cell tissue, protecting your body from free radicals, and for maintaining healthy bones and teeth. Long ago, vitamin C deficiency caused scurvy, which caused swollen bleeding gums, fatigue, and lowered immune system.
Symptoms of vitamin C deficiency are:
Dry hair
Gingivitis
Dry, flaking skin
Slow healing from wounds and bruises
Nosebleeds
Proneness to infections
People who are at risk for vitamin C deficiency are:
Cigarette smokers
Vitamin D deficiency
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble nutrient that is stored in your body and produced with exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D is essential for aiding calcium in bone production, preventing cancer, and protecting your immune system. Rickets is caused by vitamin D deficiency in children. Other illnesses linked with vitamin D deficiency are osteoporosis, breast, colon, and skin cancer, obesity, hypertension, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and heart disease.
Symptoms of long-term vitamin D deficiency are:
Depression
Weak bones
Frequent stumbling
High blood pressure
People at risk for vitamin D deficiency are:
People who live in cold, rainy northern countries with little exposure to sunlight
People of dark skin color
Infants
People who cover their bodies completely with dark garments, even while outdoors
The elderly
Vitamin E deficiency
Vitamin E is a fatty antioxidant that occurs in many foods and oils. Vitamin E is essential for protecting your body from illnesses like cancer and heart disease, while also promoting healthy aging and red blood cell production.
Symptoms of vitamin E deficiency are:
Muscular feebleness
Irregular eye movements
Visual impairment
Frequent stumbling
People at risk for vitamin E deficiency are:
Individuals with cystic fibrosis, pancreatitis, and cholestasis who cannot digest fat molecules
Please tell us…
Have you been suffering from severe fatigue, memory loss, and general loss of energy? Has this been building up for months, or years? If so, you might have vitamin B12 deficiency. One simple blood test can help your doctor diagnose if your B12 levels are low, and then you will be one step closer to feeling like the real you!
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You might be surprised to know that vitamin B12 deficiency can cause symptoms like depression, fatigue, and anxiety. Vitamin B12 benefits your body in many ways, and when you don’t get enough, you can start to feel sluggish, nervous, and depressed, in addition to suffering many neurological disorders. Sometimes, depression from B12 deficiency mimics clinical depression, interfering with a proper diagnosis.
Do you have vitamin B12 deficiency?
The only way to be certain if your B12 levels are low is by getting a blood test. This will indicate if you need more vitamin B12, even if it doesn’t necessarily explain why your B12 levels are lower than normal.
Here are some typical signs of vitamin B12 deficiency that “masquerade” as mental illness:
Chronic fatigue
Anxiety
Depression that lingers
Sleep difficulties
Paranoia
Aggressiveness
Hallucinations
Neurological symptoms of B12 deficiency include:
Painful tingling in your legs, hands, and feet
Frequent clumsiness and tripping
Altered sense of taste
Sore tongue
Vision problems
How many types of depression are there?
Here are some of the most common types of depression:
Major depressive disorder: The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) characterizes major depression as a “combination of symptoms that interfere with a person’s ability to work, sleep, study, eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities.” Most people who suffer from major depression will experience several episodes of depression in their lives, but it is possible to experience it only once. With major depressive disorder, medication is required for treatment of symptoms.
Dysthymic disorder: Dysthymia is depression that lingers over several years. With dysthymia, depression is less severe than major depression, and not as likely to interfere in one’s ability to work or study. Still, dysthymic disorder causes feelings of sadness and disquiet. People with dysthymia may suffer from episodes of major depression, as well.
Minor depression: Minor depression is diagnosed when one has a short interval of depression over a few weeks. Minor depression itself is not debilitating, but untreated may escalate into major depression.
Bipolar disorder: Manic-depressive illness is less common than major depression, and involves swift mood changes that alternate from exhilarating highs to deep depression.
Psychotic depression: Depression that accompanies other forms of severe mental illness, such as hallucinations or delusions, is called psychotic depression.
Postpartum depression: About 10%-15% of women suffer from postpartum depression after giving birth, which is caused by shifting hormones and overwhelming lifestyle changes.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD): During the winter months, it is common for some people to suffer from seasonal affective disorder because of decreased exposure to sunlight. Still, antidepressants and psychotherapy are more effective at treating SAD than light therapy.
Depression from vitamin deficiency: Vitamin B12 deficiency and folate deficiency are directly linked to some incidences of depression. According to NIMH, “depression and poor response to antidepressant medication have been linked to deficiency in the vitamins folate and B12.”
In other studies, elevated homocysteine levels were associated with increased risk for depression. Vitamin B12 and folate supplementation, which decrease homocysteine levels in the blood, were instrumental in treating depression.
What’s the connection between vitamin B12 and depression?
Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is necessary for various biological functions, such as DNA synthesis, red blood cell distribution, protection of the nervous system, and lowering of homocysteine levels. In addition, vitamin B12 also helps your brain maintain healthy cognitive functioning. When vitamin B12 levels are low, your brain suffers. You begin to experience severe short-term memory loss, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and mental illness symptoms like depression, anxiety, paranoia, feelings of hostility, and moodiness.
Vitamin B12 food sources include meat, fish, milk, and egg products. However, if you suffer from pernicious anemia or other autoimmune disorders, you probably cannot digest vitamin B12 from foods, and must supplement with sublingual vitamin B12 or vitamin B12 shots. An alternative method of taking vitamin B12 is the vitamin B12 patch, which does not require a prescription, and carries the same amount of vitamin B12 as a weekly B12 shot.
Please tell us…
If you suffer from depression, have you had your B12 levels checked, as well? If you currently take vitamin B12 supplements, do you take them orally, through B12 injections, or by using the vitamin B12 patch?
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Read more about vitamin B12 deficiency and depression:
Everybody knows about Alzheimer’s disease; did you know that dementia from vitamin B12 deficiency can happen before you hit old age? Vitamin B12 deficiency and pernicious anemia are common causes of dementia. And so do many other diseases and conditions.
What is dementia?
Dementia is a brain disorder that causes you to lose thinking skills like memory, reasoning, language, and social awareness. Dementia is a progressive condition- the symptoms of dementia only worsen with time. Degenerative dementia is permanent, meaning that the brain damage that caused dementia is irreversible. Some kinds of dementia can be reversed if the cause is caught in time; such is the case with a brain tumor. Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most notable types of degenerative dementia.
Short-term memory loss: While dementia patients don’t usually have difficulty remembering things from their childhood with crystal-clear vision, they are likely to forget messages, conversations, or doctor’s appointments from the previous day…or hour.
Moodiness: Alzheimer’s disease patients may shift through moods in the blink of an eye- one minute content, the next minute expressing deep anger, and rage. Paranoia and depression are common traits of elderly individuals suffering from dementia. Often, people with dementia lose interest in things like hobbies and social clubs that they used to enjoy. In some cases, they may become antisocial and exhibit bad behavior in public.
Difficulty communicating: People with dementia tend to have circular conversations, immediately forgetting what they spoke of a moment ago, and returning to the same topic. They also have trouble recalling everyday words, as their vocabulary skills have decreased significantly.
Decreased perception skills: Dementia patients have great difficulty understanding new or foreign concepts.
Inability to multi-task
Cognitive decline: Senior citizens with dementia have trouble thinking abstractly, figuring amounts, and using logic.
Dementia is caused by various illnesses and injuries, including:
Alzheimer’s disease
Stroke (Vascular dementia)
Dementia with Lewy bodies
Huntington’s disease
Multiple sclerosis
Parkinson’s disease
Pick’s disease
Progressive supranuclear palsy
Brain tumor
Head injury
Chronic alcoholism
Vitamin B12 deficiency (Pernicious anemia)
Certain cholesterol-lowering medications
How do doctors diagnose dementia?
If your doctor suspects dementia, he will have to review the patient’s medical history and order various physical exams before he diagnoses dementia. Additionally, any underlying medical conditions that may contribute to dementia symptoms will be reviewed, such as low levels of vitamin B12 or history of depression.
The most common tests used to diagnose dementia are:
Neurological exam (mental status examination)
MRI brain scan
Vitamin B12 blood test
Ammonia blood test
Blood chemistry test
Thyroid test
Toxicology screening for alcohol
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis
Electroencephalograph (EEG)
Head CT
Urinalysis
Treatments for dementia
Depending on the cause of dementia, your physician might prescribe one of the following treatments for dementia:
Vitamin B12 supplements, if vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms are the cause of dementia.
Acetyl cholinesterase inhibitor, for dementia with Lewy bodies
Do you or a family member suffer from short-term memory loss, chronic fatigue, or depression and anxiety? You could be suffering from B12 deficiency. Other symptoms of low B12levels include painful tingling or numbness in hands and feet, sore red tongue, unusual clumsiness, and tinnitus ear ringing.
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The immune system is a complex network of cells, and when things go wrong- as with autoimmune diseases, allergies, or immunodeficiencydisorders- the results can be debilitating at best…or deadly, at worst. Sometimes, telling the difference between various immune disorders can be confusing. Like, what’s the difference between gluten hypersensitivity and celiac disease? Find the answer below…
The immune system
Your immune system is a busy place- it’s made up of your lymph nodes, tonsils, thymus, bone marrow, and parts of your digestive system. The immune system’s main purpose in life is to protect your body from dangerous antigens, which could be anything from bacteria or cancer cells to viruses and toxic chemicals. (Sometimes, even somebody else’s blood or saliva can be labeled by your immune system as an antigen.)
Once your immune system picks up the scent of an antigen, it goes into attack mode, producing antibodies to destroy the “alien invader.” Not only that, but your immune system also sends white blood cells to gobble up the offending flu virus, germ, contaminant, or mutant cell.
Except when it doesn’t. Because sometimes, the immune system doesn’t react the way it’s expected to. When that happens, it’s called an immune system disorder.
There are many types of immune disorders, including allergies, autoimmune diseases, and immunodeficiency disorders.
Allergy and Hypersensitivity
When your immune system has an inappropriate response to a perfectly safe substance, then that is called an allergic reaction, or hypersensitivity. An example of an inappropriate reaction can be an overreaction to laundry detergent. With chronic allergies, your immune system is trigger-happy, reacting to numerous stimuli by producing histamines, causing uncomfortable and sometimes fatal allergic reactions like swelling, hives, congestion, diarrhea, vomiting, and headache.
People don’t usually inherit specific allergies. Still, if your parents (or at least, your mother) suffer from allergies, then you are likely prone to allergic reactions, as well.
Autoimmune diseases occur when your body attacks healthy cells in your body, mistaking them for antigens. There are over 80 kinds of autoimmune diseases, and they can affect any part of your body. Symptoms of autoimmune diseases often come and go; flare-ups cause debilitating chronic pain, and brief periods of remission offer some respite. While the disease itself can’t always be cured, the symptoms can be treated.
Common autoimmune diseases:
Pernicious anemia (vitamin B12 deficiency)
Crohn’s disease
Celiac disease
Fibromyalgia
Type 2 diabetes
Rheumatoid arthritis
Immunodeficiency disorders
Unlike autoimmune diseases or allergies, where the immune system is intact (albeit malfunctioning), immunodeficiency disorders occur when certain parts of the immune system are missing or deficient. Usually, an immunodeficiency disorder involves insufficient or malfunctioning white blood cells, or not enough antibodies.
AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is an example of an immune deficiency disorder caused by a human immunodeficiency virus- HIV. Some immunodeficiency disorders are inherited, as well.
What’s the difference between an allergy, and autoimmune disorder, and an immune deficiency?
When you have allergies, it is because your body overreacts to otherwise harmless stimuli, causing uncomfortable and sometimes harmful symptoms.
When you have an autoimmune disease, your body essentially attacks itself, causing damage to your digestive system, respiratory system, or muscles, for example.
An immunodeficiency disorder is when your body stops protecting you from foreign stimuli like viruses, toxins, bacteria, or tumors.
Did you figure out the difference between gluten sensitivity and celiac disease? With celiac disease, gluten triggers an autoimmune response that causes serious harm to your digestive system. People who have celiac disease must cut all gluten products from their diet. If eating starchy bread, cakes, or crackers gives you a stomachache, that doesn’t mean you have celiac. You might have gluten intolerance, which means that your body produces histamines whenever it detects gluten in your system.
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Vitamin B12 deficiency causes pernicious anemia, which creates horrible symptoms like painful tingling in your hands and feet, numbness, chronic fatigue, memory loss, depression, and even chronic clumsiness. What’s really behind all these debilitating symptoms, you wonder? Deranged DNA…
You’re mad, I tell you- Mad!
Pernicious anemia (PA) tends to creep up on you, like a scary monster in a B movie. You might not even realize you have B12 deficiency until you start noticing weird symptoms. Your hands and feet fall asleep on you while you sit at your computer. It feels like thousands of fire ants are crawling up your legs. Sometimes, you could swear that your mouth was on fire, like you ate a red chili pepper.
Only you didn’t…
Then PA attacks your brain, causing brain fog. You struggle to find the right words in conversation, left hanging while you awkwardly try to remember what you were trying to say. You walk into a room and immediately forget what you came in for. You forget to buy things on your mental shopping list. You wake up feeling drugged, exhausted, even though you had plenty of sleep the night before.
If you didn’t have your name printed clearly for you on your driver’s license, you just might forget it…
Pernicious anemia is an autoimmune disorder in which your body interferes with production of a very necessary protein- intrinsic factor. Intrinsic factor is produced in your stomach, and you need it to digest vitamin B12 (cobalamin). Without intrinsic factor, your body cannot extract vitamin B12 from food sources like beef, chicken, fish, and eggs. Instead, the vitamin B12 just passes through your intestines, without ever entering the blood stream.
Say goodbye to B12…
DNA production goes awry
If pernicious anemia sounds frightening, it’s because it does wicked things to your body. You need vitamin B12 for many important bodily functions, like protecting the nervous system, enhancing cognitive development, and maintaining adequate supplies of energy.
Most importantly, your red blood cells need vitamin B12 for DNA synthesis. With pernicious anemia, DNA synthesis in the red blood cells comes to a standstill, while RNA synthesis keeps chugging along.
And then, things get really weird…
Franken-DNA is born
The result is microcytic anemia, a type of megaloblastic anemia causing enlarged red blood cells. Not only are your blood cells too big to function normally, but they are also deformed. Your poor large red blood cells remain trapped inside your bone marrow, unable to leave because they have grown enormous in size.
Remember Alice, trapped in the White Rabbit’s house? Yeah, it’s kind of like that.
Hey, where’re all the red blood cells at?
Trapped in your bone marrow! And your body needs red blood cells to transport oxygen throughout the body. But with vitamin B12 deficiency, very few red blood cells manage to escape their “prison” in your bones, because they are too big to exit. Your red blood cell levels go way down, and you start to feel tired, anxious, and wiry.
Managing macrocytic anemia is simple enough if you know what’s causing it. Pernicious anemia from low B12 levels is just one cause. Other causes of enlarged red blood cells are alcoholism and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), among others. With alcoholism, B12 deficiency symptoms can still be the underlying cause of macrocytic anemia.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can be treated with vitamin B12 supplements. However, if your body can’t digest vitamin B12 because of lack of intrinsic factor, then you will have to use vitamin B12 supplements that bypass the digestive system and go directly into the bloodstream.
Examples of vitamin B12 supplementation used for pernicious anemia are routine B12 shots, sublingual B12 pills, and vitamin B12 patches. The B12 shots require a doctor’s prescription, and can be painful, as they have to be inserted into thick muscular tissue. B12 pills and vitamin B12 patches are readily available over-the-counter (OTC). Many patients have reported a burning sensation while using sublingual B12 tablets that dissolve under the tongue. No discomfort or irritation is reported with usage of the vitamin B12 patch.
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Frequent numbness in your hands and wrists, accompanied by painful tingling sensations can be annoying. It makes it hard to get your job done- if you sit at a computer or cash register, then you’ve probably experienced sore hands and wrists. Find out what causes hand numbness, and which exercises can relieve the pain.
Conditions that cause numbness and tingling in your hands
A number of health conditions may contribute to hand pain, tingling, and numbness. Below are some of the most common causes:
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder that causes chronic pain your joints, making it difficult to write, carry a plate, or button your clothes. While RA can strike any of the bones in your body, it is most common in the joints in your hands and feet. Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are stiffness, swelling, redness, and pain that come and go often.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by pinched nerves in the wrist. It is caused by repetitive hand movements used in sports, knitting, typing, writing, painting, and playing musical instruments. Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome are painful tingling, weakness, and numbness in the hand, wrist, and fingers.
Diabetes often destroys small blood vessels, causing damage to your nerves. The result is neuropathic pain that usually strikes the hands and feet first, referred to as “stocking and glove” pain because it makes it difficult for diabetics to wear gloves and socks comfortably.
Vitamin B12 deficiency causes nerve pain that occurs in the hands, feet, and tongue. This is because vitamin B12 is essential for protecting the nervous system. A deficiency in vitamin B12 causes symptoms like painful tingling, numbness, and soreness in the hands and feet. Other kinds of pernicious anemia neuropathy include gait ataxia, sore, red tongue, altered taste perception, and burning mouth syndrome.
Here are some hand and wrist exercises that are used to relieve pain, improve range of motion, and strengthen muscles.
Prayer stretch: Put your palms together and elbows out, as in a yoga prayer pose. Lower your writs until you feel a gentle stretch, holding it for 5 seconds before returning to starting position.
Wrist flex: Extend your arm. Gently bend your wrists downwards, flexing your wrist muscles gently, holding for 5 seconds before returning to starting position. This may also be done with a tight fist.
Make a fist: Alternate between splaying out your fingers as wide as possible, holding for 5 seconds, and making a tight fist with your hand.
Bend your fingers: Put your hand up with your fingers together, as if motioning someone to stop. Slowly bend the top two knuckles of your fingers down, excluding the thumb.
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Read more about painful tingling in the hands and feet symptoms
In a recent video that’s sure to change your perception of autism, Carly Fleischmann, a not-so-typical autistic teenager tell us what it’s like inside her head, explaining why other autistic children act the way they do- bizarre behaviors that continue to puzzle autism experts, like head banging, swaying, and refusal to make eye contact with other people. Only instead of using verbal communication, of which she is incapable, Carly has learned how to communicate using iPadappsfor autism.
Branded “autistic” from birth
Born autistic, Carly started showing the first signs of autism as an infant; developmental delays like her inability to start crawling, sitting upright, walking, or talking at the same age as her twin sister Taryn told her parents that something was amiss. Experts said that she was mentally retarded, and close friends recommended sending Carly to an institution, but her parents refused.
“I could never do it,” admitted her father. “How can you give up your kid?”
Instead, they introduced Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), a popular therapy for autism, which also helped her with her severe verbal apraxia. With ABA, autistic children learn small tasks, one at a time, at their own rate of learning, using positive reinforcement. From the age of four, Carly started receiving 40-60 hours of one-to-one ABA per week.
“I am autistic, but that’s not who I am. Take time to know me, before you judge me.”
Still, Carly suffered severe autism, and progress was slow; she would rock back-and-forth incessantly for hours, lash out, break furniture, have sudden angry outbursts, and didn’t seem to comprehend anything that was going on around her, or understand what family members would say in front of her.
But looks can be deceiving…
“You know, I can hear you.”
At the age of 11, Carly was working with a therapist, and she was not happy about it. She was in one of her “off moods,” and didn’t feel like sitting still to learn her vocabulary. Sitting in front of a touch-screen device, she communicated her first word- “No.”
That one word opened up the floodgates for her; she started typing more words like “hurt” and “help.”
“People look at me and assume I am dumb because I can’t talk.”
Over the course of months, and after much coaxing from therapists, Carly learned how to type every time she wanted to say something. She learned how to say things to her parents that she was never able to express verbally, things like “I love when you read to me, and I love that you believe in me. I love you.”
For the first time, Carly, a teenager with autism, had control over her environment. For the first time, Carly was able to have conversations with her parents.
“I stopped looking her as a disabled person, and started looking at her as a sassy, mischievous teenaged girl,” says her dad. “She sees herself as a normal child locked in a body that does things that she has no control over.”
Carly describes her symptoms of autism
In her writing, Carly conveys a deep understanding of the world around her. Likewise, she struggles to get others to understand what her world is like…
On chronic pain:“You don’t know what it feels like to be me, when you can’t sit still because your legs feel like they are on fire, or it feels like a hundred ants are crawling up your arms…I want something that will put out the fire.”
On head banging:“Because if I don’t, it feels like my body is going to explode. It’s just like when you shake a can of Coke. If I could stop it, I would, but it’s not like turning a switch off. I know what is right and wrong, but it’s like I have a fight with my brain over it.”
On covering her ears, moaning, and rocking:“It’s a way for us to drown out all sensory input that overloads us all at once. We create output to block out input.”
On refusing eye contact: “People say that we have a hard time processing information. It’s not really true, our brains are wired differently. We take in many sounds and conversations at once. I take over a thousand pictures of a person’s face when I look at them. That’s why we have a hard time looking at people.”
On autism experts: “How can you explain something you have not lived or if you don’t know what it’s like to have it? If a horse is sick, you don’t ask a fish what’s wrong with the horse. You go right to the horse’s mouth.”
Carly becomes a delegate for autistic kids everywhere
Today, Carly communicates with other nonverbal autistic kids on the internet. She Twitters like any other teen, and she has a large fan base on Facebook and her blog, Carly’s Voice.
Carly has been the subject of many television talk shows and news segments, like Larry King Live, 20/20, and Ellen, to whom she donated over $500.00 to the Make it Right Foundation.
“Everyone has an inner voice waiting to come out.”
She has also interviewed celebrities like autism advocate Holly Robinson Peete and Joe Mantegna, who has a daughter with autism. She is also working on her first novel.
Here is her story:
Why post this story on a vitamin B12 blog?
If it seems strange that a site containing information on vitamin B12 deficiency and the vitamin B12 patch would also focus in autism, then know this:
Vitamin B12 is brain food. In a study focusing on 50 autistic children who were given vitamin B12 supplements, nine of the children saw improvement in language and socialization, in addition changes in biomarkers for oxidative stress.
Vitamin B12 is good for the nerves. By supporting the myelin sheathe that insulates your nerve cells, vitamin B12 protects you from severe nerve damagelike apraxia and paresthesia
Vitamin B12 deficiency occurs with autism. Many children with autism also have vitamin B12 deficiency. By supplementing with extra B12, parents of autistic children note a marked decrease in their child’s autistic behaviors.
Gastric bypass surgery offers the morbidly obese a new lease on life, according to research. Recent studies confirm that people who undergo Roux-en-Y weight loss surgery lose the most weight and keep it off, more so than with gastric banding. But while gastric surgery promises a high success rate, the risk for serious complications is significantly higher than with other kinds of bariatric surgery.
What is gastric bypass surgery?
The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass changes the size of your stomach and reroutes food past certain parts of the digestive system. People who undergo gastric bypass surgery achieve a feeling of fullness much quicker than before the surgery, and are thus able to eat less and lose a considerable amount of weight. However, because gastric bypass is a complicated procedure, many problems may arise during or after the surgery.
With the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, a small egg-sized stomach sack is created and attached to the middle part of the small intestine.
The rest of the stomach, as well as the upper section of the small intestine, are completely avoided, or “bypassed.”
A common side effect of gastric bypass is gastric bypass dumpingin which food travels through the stomach and empties into the small intestine too quickly, causing symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps.
Another common side effect is nutritional deficiency, including vitamin B12 deficiency and many other vitamin, calcium, iron, and magnesium deficiencies.
Patients of gastric bypass surgery must supplement with extra vitamins and minerals, with a special emphasis on vitamin B12 supplements, in order to avoid osteoporosis, nerve damage, and other severe illnesses.
Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery is the second-most popular form of bariatric surgery after the gastric bypass procedure. Banding is a good alternative for gastric bypass surgery because it is less invasive.
In gastric banding, the surgeon places an adjustable silicon band around the upper part of your stomach, effectively cinching it to a smaller size.
After banding, your stomach can hold only about 1 ounce of food at one time.
The gastric band is adjusted through a saline solution that may be injected through a small device under the skin.
Most people who undergo gastric banding lose approximately 40% of their body weight.
Gastric banding surgery is completely reversible.
The mortality rate due to gastric banding surgery is 1/2000.
Since the small intestine remains intact, gastric banding surgery does not disrupt your digestive system, and there is no risk of vitamin deficiency, such as vitamin B12 deficiency.
Is gastric banding surgery safer than gastric bypass?
In a recent study comparing success rates between gastric bypass surgery and gastric banding, scientists had this to say:
About 17% of gastric bypass patients had complications like infections following surgery, compared to only 5% of gastric banding patients.
Six years post-surgery, 12% of gastric bypass patients were back to being morbidly obese, with a BMI over 35, while about a third of gastric banding patients were once again overweight.
Thirteen percent of bypass patients required a follow-up operation, while approximately 27% of gastric banding patients needed to return for more surgeries.
Complications involved with gastric banding include band erosion, stretched esophagus, or food-related issues.
Complications involved with gastric bypass can be much more severe; possibly fatal complications include bowel blockage and leakage of waste material into the body.
With gastric bypass surgery, food rushes through the digestive system, and essential minerals and vitamins pass through without ever being absorbed into the bloodstream. So while you feed your stomach, you are not feeding the rest of the body the nutrients that it needs to survive. Life-long supplementation of vitamins- vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and B vitamins-, and minerals is a commitment that gastric bypass patients much make.
Your chances of losing weight following gastric banding are 50/50, and there is a fair chance that you will have complications that require a return trip to the operating room. However, banding-related complications are less severe than bypass-related complications, which can be fatal. Then again, if obesity poses a serious life risk, then you might be better off with the most successful weight loss surgery- gastric bypass.
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