Diabetics have yet another critical reason to prevent vitamin B12 deficiency

Should have seen this one coming too…

Diabetics have another good reason to be aggressive about preventing vitamin B12 deficiency: peripheral neuropathy.

A recent article in Southern Medical Journal notes that when anemia develops due to low B12, neuropathy often precedes the anemia.

Peripheral neuropathy is nerve damage in the arms and legs –-a common and dangerous problem for diabetics.

Most importantly, anemia can be cured and the advance of neuropathy can be stopped with B12 therapy. But whatever progress neuropathy has already made can’t be reversed.

Prolonged B12 deficiency permanently damages protective sheaths that coat nerve fibers. This is followed by death of neurons–key cells that transmit information. Once neurons are lost, they’re gone.

Unfortunately, this neuronal death is not only peripheral– it may also occur in the spine and brain.

You can read more about the link between the diabetic drug metformin and B12 deficiency in “Should Have Seen This One Coming.”

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Source:
“Metformin-Induced Vitamin B12 Deficiency Presents as Peripheral Neuropathy” Southern Medical Journal, April 2010, medscape.com