The Role Vitamin B12 Plays in Overall Health

Vitamin B12 plays an important role in overall health, and a person who has a deficiency will feel symptoms.

The vitamin is essential to brain and nerve function, so those who have a B12 deficiency may start to feel unwell.

Vitamin B12 comes in pill form as well as injections, but it's also found in foods, like meat, fish and dairy.

People who don't eat enough of those foods and are B12 deficient may start to feel symptoms, like headaches, fatigue, muscle weakness or even depression.

According to Ernestine A. Wright, M.D., FACP, a board certified Primary Care Doctor with Mercy Personal Physicians Downtown in Baltimore, it's important to consult your doctor if you experience these symptoms.

"Patients may complain of problems with dizziness, and then, they complain of some sensations of pins and needles in their legs. And, some people find that their gait is unstable, they just find that when they walk, they're not certain where their feet are," Dr. Wright said.

Dr. Wright noted that some people do not absorb B12 in their gut, which can also cause a deficiency - that's more common in women and that it takes time to develop a deficiency, and it also takes time to replenish and absorb B12 in the body.

View Mercy primary care physician Dr. Ernestine Wright's interview regarding Vitamin B12.