Hold that shot - oral B12 works too

[Roman Byst]

http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.php?event=news_print_list_-
item&id=859

Alison McCook, "Hold that shot - oral B12 works too", Reuters,
May 24, 2005, Link: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?-
type=healthNews&storyID=8590201

Oral supplements of vitamin B12 appear to correct vitamin B12
deficiencies as well as B12 injections, according to study
findings released Monday.

However, the group of European researchers found that, in
order to correct a deficiency, oral doses need to contain more
than 200 times the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of
vitamin B12.

Study author Dr. Lisette C. P. G. M. de Groot of Wageningen
University in the Netherlands explained that most people
develop vitamin B12 deficiencies as a result of
"malabsorption," in which their bodies become unable to
extract vitamin B12 from food.

The deficiency typically strikes older people, she added,
and takes years to develop. In some instances, people who
avoid animal products -- such as vegans and followers of a
macrobiotic diet -- can also develop a deficiency in vitamin
B12 as a result of not eating enough B12-rich foods, de
Groot noted.

A vitamin B12 deficiency is typically treated by monthly,
often painful, shots, de Groot and her colleagues,
including Simone J. P. M. Eussen, report in the Archives of
Internal Medicine.

To investigate whether an oral dose of vitamin B12 works, as
well, they tested various daily doses of oral vitamin B12
supplements in 120 people aged 70 and older.

They found that daily oral doses of 647 to 1032 micrograms of
vitamin B12 appeared to correct the deficiency. The current
RDA for vitamin B12 is 3 micrograms per day.

Despite the massive doses needed, oral medicine has the
advantage of being easy to administer and painless, de
Groot told Reuters Health. No side effects have been
reported, she added.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, May 23, 2005.

[Sbharris-L]

This is the world's oldest news.

[Mr-Natural]

Sbharris[atsign]ix.netcom.com wrote:

> This is the world's oldest news.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, May 23, 2005.

The May 23, 2005 date makes it new, news. You being a
research baffoon, ... eh, research MD you should know how the
game works.

Ha, ... Hah, Ha!

[Sbharris-L]

No, truthfully, I usually expect more from the Annals of
Internal Medicine. This has only been known for about 30
years. It's not entirely the newspapers' fault.

J Am Geriatr Soc. 1998 Sep;46(9):1125-7.

Oral cobalamin for pernicious anemia: back from the verge of
extinction.

Lederle FA.

Department of Medicine, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical
Center, MN 55417, USA.

BACKGROUND: High dose oral cobalamin therapy was shown to be
effective for pernicious anemia and other cobalamin deficiency
states 30 years ago, and physicians and patients state that
they would find oral therapy useful, but a survey conducted in
1989 found that physicians were generally unaware of it.
OBJECTIVE: To assess physician awareness and use of oral
cobalamin since 1989. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:
Minneapolis area internists not listed as having
subspecialties or academic business addresses were surveyed in
1989 and in 1996. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: There were 245
responses to the 1989 survey and 223 responses to the 1996
survey for response rates of 68% and 69%, respectively. The
percentage of internists who ever used oral cobalamin to treat
pernicious anemia increased from 0 in 1989 to 19% in 1996 (P <
.001). The percentage who were aware of an effective oral
cobalamin preparation for treating cobalamin deficiency states
also increased significantly from 4 to 29% (P < .001). The
percentage of internists who agreed with the incorrect view
that sufficient quantities of cobalamin cannot be absorbed
when given orally declined from 91% in 1989 to 71% in 1996 (P
< .001). CONCLUSION: Minneapolis internists' awareness and use
of oral cobalamin treatment for pernicious anemia increased
substantially between 1989 and 1996, but the majority of
internists remained unaware of this treatment option.

PMID: 9736106 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]