Vitamins to avert anemia
Donya Betancourt, Pediatrician
drdonya@hotmail.com
Vitamin supplements, are they really necessary?
Your body needs vitamins, nutrients found in most foods for many reasons, including for healthy blood. If your body is deficient in certain key vitamins, you can develop anemia.
Without enough healthy red blood cells in circulation, your body cannot get the oxygen it needs to feel energized. To produce red blood cells, your body needs the mineral iron. It also needs regular intake of vitamins such as vitamin B-12, folate and vitamin C.
Anemia has many symptoms but the most common is fatigue. That's true for vitamin deficiency anemia, which can also result in pale skin, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, loss of appetite, and numbness or tingling in your hands and feet. Vitamin deficiencies usually develop slowly, over several months to years. Signs and symptoms may be subtle at first, but they increase as the deficiency worsens.
Red blood cells are produced regularly in your bone marrow; a red, spongy material located within the cavities of many of your large bones. To produce adequate numbers of healthy blood cells, especially red blood cells, your bone marrow needs a steady supply of iron, vitamin B-12, folate and vitamin C from your diet.
You need iron because red blood cells contain hemoglobin; an iron-rich substance that enables them to carry oxygen. Vitamin B- 12 and folate are necessary because they're the building blocks of red blood cells. Vitamin C aids in the formation of red blood cells by helping you absorb iron.
With a shortage of iron, your bone marrow produces fewer and smaller red blood cells. Anemia caused by a lack of vitamin C causes the bone marrow to make smaller red blood cells. Without enough vitamin B-12 or folate, your bone marrow produces large and underdeveloped red blood cells called megaloblasts, resulting in a shortage of healthy red blood cells.
Anemia caused by a lack of iron is called iron deficiency anemia. Causes of vitamin deficiency anemias, also known as megaloblastic anemias, include:
Folate deficiency anemia. Folate, also known as vitamin B-9, is a nutrient found mainly in fresh fruits and leafy green vegetables. Most nutrients from food are absorbed in small intestine. There are two causes of folate deficiency: Lack of foods that contain folate or the small intestine is unable to absorb folate, such as due to inflammatory disease or where it has been surgically removed or bypassed.
Other possible causes are decreasing alcohol absorption, antiseizure medications or pregnancy. Breast-feeding women have an increased demand for folate. Your body stores some folate, but anemia can develop within months if your body's reserves are depleted.
Vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia (pernicious anemia). Vitamin B- 12 is found mainly in meats, eggs and milk. Rarely does vitamin B-12 deficiency result from a lack of diet except when you do not eat meat and dairy products. Strict vegetarians may fall into this category: You may be at risk of vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia. If you have an intestinal disease, abnormal bacterial growth in your stomach, or surgery to your intestines or stomach that interferes with the absorption of vitamin B-12, you are at risk.
However, most people with a diagnosis of vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia lack intrinsic factor (a protein secreted by the stomach necessary for the absorption of vitamin B-12) called pernicious anemia. Pernicious means deadly. Lack of intrinsic factor was often fatal before the availability of vitamin B-12 shots.
Because vitamin B-12 is stored in large amounts in your liver, it may take several years before you develop signs of a deficiency. Lack of intrinsic factor may be due to an autoimmune reaction or a genetic defect. People with endocrine-related autoimmune disorders, such as diabetes or thyroid disease, also may be at greater risk of developing pernicious anemia.
Vitamin C deficiency anemia. A lack of vitamin C in your diet can cause this type of anemia. Your body needs vitamin C, found mainly in citrus fruits, to produce healthy blood cells. Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron, an important building block of red blood cells. Anyone who is malnourished is at risk of this and other vitamin-related anemias. Some conditions, such as hyperthyroidism, AIDS or cancer, can drain the body of vitamin C and lead to a deficiency.
Next week we will talk about diagnosis, treatment and prevention.