Originally published December 17 2013
PPI drugs proven to cause vitamin B12 deficiency
by PF Louis
(NaturalNews) Those who rely on pharmaceuticals to treat GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), peptic ulcers or other digestive issues from too much stomach acid are negatively impacting their B12 levels. This usually results in fatigue and leads to increased cardiovascular risk.
PPI (proton pump inhibitors) and H2RA (histamine-2 receptor antagonists) are drugs commonly used to treat conditions related to excess stomach acids.
They are used in several brand name over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription drugs, and they're more potent than common antacids, which neutralize acidity, while PPIs and H2RAs inhibit stomach acid production needed to begin breaking down animal products containing B12.
In a recent study, researchers compared the medical records of nearly 26,000 members of the Northern California Kaiser Permanente sick care plan who were diagnosed with vitamin B12 deficiency between 1997 and 2011, and nearly 185,000 people with healthy B12 levels.
It's safe to assume that most or all of the subjects whose medical records were researched were meat eaters. Otherwise, the study's purpose would be to put down vegetarian diets for lacking B12.
The study concluded that both dosage strength and duration of PPIs and H2RAs influenced B12 deficiency accordingly. And that patients on PPIs or H2RAs should be screened for B12 and/or prescribed with lower doses of PPIs and H2RAs for shorter times.
A point of contention is "what determines a B12 deficiency?" The serum level standard used, 200 pg/ml (picograms per milliliter) is inadequate, according to some health experts. A picogram is one-trillionth of a gram.
What some progressive medicos are considering to be a desirable B12 serum level is around 450 pg/ml, which indicates that there were many more who were B12 deficient in this study.
Adequacy standards set too low are commonly overlooked factors in vitamin deficiency studies, as this author has witnessed with several vitamin C, D and B6 studies.
Ensuring adequate vitamin B12 for optimum health
Vitamin B12 deficiency is often behind low energy and chronic fatigue, is a usual source of anemia and allows too much homocysteine buildup, a reliable marker for impending cardiac arrest.
Blood serum testing has a problem, because it doesn't take into consideration what's called the intrinsic value, the potential for metabolizing B12 on a cellular level.
Testing urine for high amounts of methylmalonic acid (MMA) is more accurate. MMA is high when B12 metabolism is low. Another indirect indicator is a high homocysteine blood level. High homocysteine levels lead to cardiac problems. As indirect indicators, both MMA and homocysteine have inverse relationships to B12 levels.
There are three types of B12: cyanocobalamin, hydroxocobalamin and methylcobalamin. Of these three, experts agree that methylcobalamin is the most beneficial.
However, the most commonly used B12 by AMA doctors is cyanocobalamin, which many say actually impedes B12 metabolism. Methylcobalamin is used by the enzyme methionine synthase to change homocysteine into methionine.
So regardless of whatever method you use to supplement vitamin B12, sublingual lozenges, transdermal patches, liposomal formulas or injections, use only methylcobalamin. And make sure that your B6 and folate levels are adequate to optimize the B12 intake.
If testing is not available or beyond budget, there is little concern for overdosing. It's estimated that oral (sublingual or liposomal) ingestion of 1000 mcg (micograms) of B12 daily for at least a month or more approximates a twice weekly B12 injection.
As a health freedom aside, in Mexico, I injected myself without a prescription twice weekly for around three U.S. dollars. Yes, you're not allowed to do that here.
And for more on how much isn't too much, read about the UK doctor who has a habit of curing misdiagnosed MS and chronic fatigue patients by injecting them with B12. He did this despite their B12 levels being already above what's considered normal.
That story's under the sub-heading "UK doctor insists medical authorities accept real-life results of B12 therapy" here (http://www.naturalnews.com).
Sources for this article include:
http://www.reuters.com
http://jama.jamanetwork.com
http://www.naturalnews.com
http://www.thehealersjournal.com
http://www.aafp.org
http://science.naturalnews.com
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