Vitamin B12 Deficiency and Chronic Illness

Vitamin B12 Deficiency

&

Chronic Illness

Researched and Written by

Mike Newman

© Mike Newman; All rights reserved

License Notes

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval systems or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright holder.

Whilst the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of going to press, neither the author nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made.

The information in this book is not intended to be a substitute for expert medical advice or treatment. A physician must diagnose and supervise treatments for each individual health problem.

Cover Design - Fergus Mason

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One

Dysaesthesia, Paraesthesia or Polyneuropathy

Subacute Degeneration of the Spinal Cord

Adequate Treatment?

Chapter Two

Early Consensus

Murphy and Minot

Restricted Diets and Assumptions

Low Stomach Acid

Gut Dysbiosis

Intrinsic Factor and the Antibody Issue

Cognitive Dissonance

Summary

Chapter Three

Digestion

Gut Dysbiosis - A Potted History

But What is Gut Dysbiosis?

Autointoxication - The Original Leaky Gut Syndrome

B12 Deficiency, Gut Dysbiosis and Autointoxication

Chapter Four

Indigestion

Stomach Acid pH

Not Just the Elderly…

B.W. Sippy

Bugs and Enzymes

Ever Decreasing Circles

Chapter Five

A Brief Encounter with Biofilms

Chapter Six

B12, Neurological Injury and Exercise

Motor Neuron Disease and Methylcobalamin

Athleticism and Illness

Chapter Seven

Folate

Chapter Eight

Miscellaneous

Thyroid Dysfunction

B12 Deficiency and Depression

Suicide and B12 Deficiency

An Epidemic of Deficiencies

Symptoms of B12 Deficiency (and/or associated deficiencies)

Supplementation Explained

Postpartum or Postnatal Depression

Vegetarians

B12 Supplements

Marmite

Psychological Pressures

Dementia

Low Libido and Erectile Dysfunction

Blood Testing for Diagnosis and Treatment

Additional Factors Which Can Affect B12 Absorption

Diagnosing Neurological Damage

Chapter Nine

Notes From The Author

References

Acknowledgments

Finding professionals who are willing to go that extra mile and question what they already believe they know to be true, is not easy. But they do exist; and for those out there whose curiosity was aroused enough to provide a professional opinion in respect of my findings, or, more importantly to double-check my statistical interpretations in respect of data analysis - I thank you. You are rare beings. You are valued. I am deeply grateful.

Note: Cobalamin is the scientific term for Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 Deficiency & Chronic Illness

Introduction

Myths, by definition, are widely held false beliefs or ideas. The current perception of myths is that they are something which belongs in the past; our education, our access to knowledge and thus the ‘real truth,’ makes us impervious to the very idea that we would, widely, hold onto falsehoods.

Yet for nearly 100 years a myth has been perpetuated in modern medicine: the belief that a lack of vitamin B12 primarily causes problems associated with the blood and, maybe more importantly, that any symptoms can be reversed quickly and easily. This belief has led to other myths developing and now it is time to set the record straight.

It is perhaps, considering the information available, unforgivable that the majority of clinicians and scientists have allowed this false belief to go unchallenged for so long; a murky reflection of our over confidence and complacency combined with the loss of observational skills in medicine and which has resulted in many people suffering needlessly.

Yet the myth is now being dismantled because medicine is starting to re-educate itself about what was once known long ago. However, such is the strength of the myth, that even in the face of both emerging and historical evidence, the false beliefs surrounding B12 deficiency are proving difficult to dispel.

Testing the truth is really what science is all about - but only, unfortunately, if it has the courage to face it and question the issues outstanding; and, although the information is currently being placed before them, stringent examination and explanation is disappointingly slow to reach the mainstream.

This means that many people are still suffering needlessly and they constantly strive, some desperately, for solutions to their health issues. As you read on I hope this book will provide you with many answers - in fact, I am certain it will…

*****

There are several reasons as to why the modern myths surrounding B12 have developed and I will later explain these in greater detail, however what is imperative for patients to understand at the outset is that Vitamin B12 Deficiency as a blood condition does not reflect the true medical picture: A deficiency in B12, no matter what the cause, can, and often does, result in permanent nerve damage and physical disability which cannot be fully reversed no matter how much vitamin B12 treatment is given.

It is also essential to appreciate that neurological (nerve) damage can be sustained irrespective of whether or not the patient has achieved a diagnosis of pernicious anemia (PA) by today’s definition. This is for several reasons and not least because the diagnostic criteria of PA has changed several times over the decades and the PA of the early 1900s is not defined in the same way as it is today.

This however is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the modern myths surrounding B12 deficiency. Neither, as you will shortly come to understand, are these misconceptions simply a matter of the author’s opinion. This is because both science and medicine have known for many years that the condition results in physical injury and ultimately death, often not due to anemia, but to deterioration of the nervous system.

The problems which arise when discussing Vitamin B12 Deficiency do not occur because of the complexities of the illness itself. Indeed, if this condition were one for which a treatment had only just been found, it would make the job of compiling this book very much easier. The problems actually arise because most people, doctors included, believe they understand the condition when in reality they do not. So, to truly understand Vitamin B12 Deficiency what we first have to do is unravel the myths that are currently preventing many millions of people getting the correct diagnosis and treatment.

For many patients the confusion about the illness arises due to the identification of a condition back in the late 1840s by the British doctor Thomas Addison who described the illness not as ‘pernicious,’ but as ‘idiopathic’ (1). And, indeed, the great contemporary minds agree that he did identify an anemia of unknown cause - but not one which saw his patients suffering from neurological damage which later became recognized as being typical of the illness.

By the latter quarter of the 1800s for the most part the anemia was simply used to confirm a diagnosis and it was generally accepted that it was the neurological damage which often killed. Yet, even back then, it was strongly debated as to whether the illness, which had become known as ‘pernicious anemia,’ presented with anemia 100 per cent of the time. Highly regarded professionals such as James Samuel Risien Russell, believed that the anemia did not have to appear at all and he was certainly not alone (2). But ultimately, and simply because of a few twists of fate, the condition became associated with anemia to one degree or another, for the next 100 years.

Yet there were specific aspects of this illness in which all involved were in agreement. For example, when a treatment was finally found it was made clear that although the hematological (blood) aspects of the condition, could be resolved quickly and easily, the neurological damage could not. In fact, even the pioneers of the treatment clearly stated that patients with neurological damage needed individual treatment and often, even with the most intensive care, some patients could not be restored to full health (3). This understanding of the illness was never challenged and, from the perspective of experts in the field, such as W.B. Castle, Conley H. Sandford, E. Lester Smith and even I. Chanarin in 2000 (4), the serious and permanent impact on many patients was never denied.

... and that is where this story should start, but unfortunately, and for possibly millions of people worldwide, it does not. Today patients’ neurological symptoms are often expected to be reversed when the levels of B12 in the blood are restored and for many thousands of people this can never happen - and, as I will shortly go on to prove - it never did happen...

*****

Information overload permeates our culture, yet each way we turn it seems the sick continue to seek practical solutions without resolution, and all too frequently, find they are met with an unimaginable volume of information which often conflicts, confuses and fails to provide adequate answers. One reason for this situation is because our society is affected by an ever increasing number of illnesses which are of both a chronic nature and unknown cause - and for which orthodox medicine offers few effective solutions.

The cyclical health situations which exist and which send patients spiraling into a maelstrom of investigations, referrals, supplements, medications, treatment regimes, restrictive diets and a life filled with endless searching for answers, are in great need of clarification. Yet a large part of this confusion is due not only to common misunderstandings related to B12 deficiency itself, but also the impact such misunderstandings have on numerous other illnesses.

I hope this book will provide you with considerable clarification and that the information contained within it will set you on a journey to better health and a life not consumed by illness.

*****

As a medical ghostwriter I spend most of my working day researching and writing about a broad range of conditions on behalf of clinicians, scientists and natural practitioners. As a victim of an untreated B12 deficiency I met, full-on, the lack of understanding regarding what should be recognized as, if it were not permeated with myth and misunderstanding, a very serious neuro-degenerative disease which is worthy of treatment and care equal to that of all other neurological conditions.

For decades, and because vitamin B12 deficiency is frequently seen as the ‘poor relation’ in comparison to the apparently more serious condition of pernicious anemia, many people struggle to get the correct treatment and care for the injuries caused by this disease - but it would appear that things are about to change...

What we must be clear about at the outset is that a deficiency of vitamin B12 can, and does, cause neurological (nerve) degeneration either with or without anemia or even a low serum B12 level. We must also understand that this neurological damage can, in some people, prove to be permanent no matter how much B12 they are given. Although many people get the illness identified in the early stages when they are suffering from symptoms such as fatigue and brain-fog, others are not so lucky and their symptoms are allowed to progress through to neurological degeneration which can be permanent. This information has been known for many decades, unfortunately though, and for a variety of reasons, it has not been widely understood by many in the medical community. However the BMJ (formerly British Medical Journal) one of the oldest and most established periodicals for clinicians (1840 as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal) has recently been at the forefront in clarifying the situation.

It began in September 2014 when they published a review paper (5) which highlighted numerous very important points to medics, including:

- that the serum B12 test, which is the most widely used assay available to clinicians, can produce results which are up to 90% inaccurate.

- how the serum B12 test cannot establish when tissue or cellular damage is remedied (indeed no blood test can do this)

and,

- highlighting how patients can present with symptoms of neurological damage of varying degrees without any blood abnormalities whatsoever and, most relevant, how, in around 6% of those patients, full health can never be restored no matter how much B12 they are provided with.

The review paper also went on to list numerous other conditions which could arise from B12 deficiency and which had not previously been understood on a widespread basis.

Following on from this, the BMJ itself then went on to review their own Best Practice Guidelines for Vitamin B12 Deficiency which were released in October 2015, and these are available for practitioners worldwide to refer to, although the BMJ provide disclaimers for the U.S. (6). These guidelines made the position even clearer and for those still left in any doubt the Prognosis section not only clarifies that B12 deficiency can produce neurological injury which is permanent, but also makes the distinction between it causing neurological and hematological disorders rather than it simply being a blood condition which could develop into a neurological one. Just as importantly the guidelines go on to clarify that providing adequate treatment and returning the blood levels to normal will likely still not resolve all the neurological damage even though the blood will be restored to a healthy state. In short, they are distinguishing between the hematological problems arising from a B12 deficiency and the neurological, and stating categorically that the treatment protocol which has long since been in use to restore B12 blood levels to normal, and which may easily resolve the symptoms of anemia (breathlessness, fatigue, pallor, palpitations) is unlikely to resolve the neurological issues which many people are left suffering with - and wondering why.

The review paper and subsequent guidelines have provided not only clinicians but also patients with a degree of clarity which simply was not previously available. However clinicians have reason to be doubly appreciative of the information because, no matter what you might hear to the contrary, doctors are personally responsible for keeping their knowledge and skills up to date. If patients are injured because they have not done this, then, under most western legislation, doctors are liable for any injuries which may arise. They are also expected to use their clinical judgment in respect