Vitamin B12 deficiency in women

GingerbreadCandy wrote: »

I was recently told by someone that it is quite common for women to have vitaming B12 deficiency because we lose it through our menstrual blood.

That does not sound right in any way, but I cannot find any information that cofirms or denies this. All searches on Google, Google Scholar and PubMed yield results as of how B12 deficiency can cause irregular period, but nothing about how period can cause B12 deficiency.

As far as i know the deficiency related with heavy periods is iron-deficiency anemia. BUT, i do know many many women are deficient in B12 (myself included).

B12 deficiency is more common in elderly woman as you loose absorption the older you get. This can only be replaced by injection on a quarterly basis by your GP .....speak to them if your worried they're many more causes of anaemia more prevalent then B12

B12 is a water soluble vitamin. Not lost in the blood. Also, deficiencies are not that common because your gall bladder stores enough of this vitamin for 3-5 years. Usually, vegans are ones with the deficiency of B12. Other than that it is hard to be deficient.

B12 deficiency is more common among women than men, but it's about 2.3% of women versus 1.6% of men. Neither value would I consider "quite common", although it's one of the more common vitamin deficiencies.

It's more common in the elderly, due to a reduction in stomach acidity with aging. It can also occur in people whose stomachs don't produce enough gastric intrinsic factor, which can happen either from autoimmune disorder or from stomach injury or surgery.

Also, B12 can be supplemented without the use of injections. I supplement with a 2,500mcg sublingual tablet
(meaning it melts under the tongue) daily. A lot of vegan literature states that if you aren't getting your B12 from animal products then the best form of supplementation in terms of absorption is in a sublingual tablet, but also that you should get your B12 from methycobalamin rather than cyanocobalamin. It's an important distinction as the majority of B12 suppliments are cyanocobalamin.

That being said, a severe deficiency will most likely need B12 injections until serum levels have stabilized and then you can switch over to sublingual medications. I know this doesn't actually answer your question, but if you are worried it is a simple blood test Also, if you wanted to do further google research on B12 related anemia the medical name for it is pernicious anemia.