Dr Dawn Harper on signs of vitamin B12 and vitamin D deficiency
Vitamin B12 is a crucial ingredient for the healthy running of the body, as it’s needed to make red blood cells. Signs of a deficiency can develop very slowly, so it may be difficult to diagnose the condition. If experiencing disturbed vision or eye twitches it could indicate your B12 levels are low.
Disturbed vision
Disturbed can occur as a result of a vitamin B12 deficiency.
This happens when the deficiency causes damage to the optic nerve that leads to your eyes.
The nervous signal that travels from the eye to the brain is disturbed due to this damage, leading to impaired vision, said the Thyroid Patient Advocacy.
The health site continued: “This condition is called optic neuropathy and treatment involving B12 supplements usually reverses the impairment.
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Optic neuropathy is a rare complication of vitamin B12 deficiency.
Disturbed vision may impact your entire eyesight, or just small parts of your field of vision.
It may also affect just one of your eyes and can make objects appear clouded, said Specsavers.
It added: “But just because you develop blurry vision, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a vitamin B12 deficiency.
“Disturbed vision could also be caused by cataracts, migraines, or an injury to the eye.”
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Eye twitch
An eye twitch could be a sign of vitamin B12 deficiency, according to Thyroid Patient Advocacy.
This usually occurs in one eye or the other and can appear even in “borderline” vitamin B12 deficiency.
It advises: “It can occur on the eyelid or just below the eye.”
A person’s eyes contain a lot of nerves, so when our body lacks Vitamin B 12 it starts twitching.
This one of the initial symptoms of nutrient deficiency and can occur even when vitamin B12 levels are just slightly lower than normal.
Other reason for the eye twitch
Electrolyte imbalance in the body can also lead to muscle twitches and spasms.
Electrolytes are electrically charged minerals that are present in the blood, urine and body fluids.
They are responsible for controlling muscle action, including the muscles of the eye.
Therefore, if a person has an imbalance of electrolytes in the body can lead to muscle twitches and spasms.
Electrolytes include sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, chlorine and phosphate.
In a study published in the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, the many faces of vitamin B12 deficiency was investigated.
The study noted: “Although cobalamin (vitamin B12) deficiency was described over a century ago, it is still difficult to establish the correct diagnosis and prescribe the right treatment.
“Symptoms related to vitamin B12 deficiency may be diverse and vary from neurologic to psychiatric.
“The most prevalent symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency are neurologic, such as paraesthesia in hands and feet, muscle cramps, dizziness, cognitive disturbances, ataxia, and erectile dysfunction, as well as fatigue, psychiatric symptoms like depression, and macrocytic anaemia.”
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