Jordan News

The body needs red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body. A person with a vitamin B12 deficiency will have underdeveloped or larger than normal red blood cells, and there are a number of symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency that appear in different parts of the body.

The first sign is ulcers forming inside the mouth on the mucous membrane. At first it may be no more than a millimeter wide, but it can reach two and a half centimeters in length.

There are two types: simple and complex. Simple ulcers can appear three or four times a year and usually occur in people between the ages of 10 and 20. Complex ulcers are less common and occur in those who have had them in the past.

These sores in the mouth are painful and can appear on the tongue, the back of the mouth, or inside the cheeks.

A person with ulcers may also experience stinging or burning before the ulcer appears. In addition, the sores that appear may be white, round, or gray with red edges.

These ulcers are just one of the symptoms of a vitamin B12 deficiency, and according to the NHS, other symptoms of deficiency include:

Skin color is pale yellow

• Pain and redness in the tongue

Changes in a person’s movement or gait

• Visual impairment

irritability

• Depression

• Changes in the way a person thinks

• Decreased mental abilities

There are a number of conditions and causes that can lead to vitamin B12 deficiency. Pernicious anemia is the most common cause. This is an autoimmune disease of the stomach that occurs when the body attacks its own healthy cells.

In pernicious anemia, the body attacks the stomach cells that produce intrinsic factor, a glycoprotein, which prevents the body from producing any vitamin B12.

Other causes of a vitamin B12 deficiency could be a person’s diet, a side effect of medications they take, or a condition affecting the gut.