What are the Symptoms of B Vitamin Deficiency?

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B vitamins are water soluble vitamins which mean that water is needed for them to be used in the body. They actually play an important role in cell metabolism. Long ago, people thought that vitamin B is just a single vitamin like vitamin C and D but current research shows that there are eight different types of vitamins namely B1 or thiamine, B2 or riboflavin, B3 or niacin, B5 or pantothenic acid, B6 or pyridoxine, B7 or biotin, B9 or folic acid, and B12 or cyanocobalamin. What are the symptoms of B vitamin deficiency?

Before talking about the symptoms of vitamin b deficiency, it is better to talk about the healthy benefits that vitamin B can give to the human body. B vitamins helps increase metabolism, enhance the immune and nervous system function, maintain healthy muscle tome and skin, promote cell growth and division and can reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer.

In today’s advance and developed world, you do not need to consume a lot of foods in order to get the recommended daily intake of vitamin B. With just one tablet, your body can enjoy the benefits of the eight B vitamins. You can buy vitamin b complex supplements on any health shops or pharmacy and some of them cost cheaper thus you can have them daily.

Symptoms of vitamin B deficiency depend on the lacking B vitamins in your body. below are the vitamins and their corresponding deficiency effects.

1. Thiamin- a deficiency of this vitamin can cause beriberi. Symptoms may include emotional disturbance, weight loss, irregular heartbeat, edema, wernicke’s encephalopathy or impairment in sensory perception, and korsakoff’s syndrome wherein there is irreversible psychosis.

2. Riboflavin- causes arboflavinosis with the following symptoms: sheilosis, glossitis, sensitivity to sunlight, seborrheic dermatitis, pharyngitis, and edema of the mucosal area.

3. Niacin- deficiency causes pellagra (together with deficiency of tryptophan). Symptoms are as follows: diarrhea, insomnia, weakness, dermatitis, mental confusion and weakness.

4. Pantothenic acid- deficiency causes acne and paresthesia.

5. Pyridoxine – deficiency causes microcytic anemia.

6. Biotin- deficiency may lead to impaired growth and neurological disorders in infants.

7. Folic acid- deficiency causes macrocytic anemia. For pregnant women, it can cause birth defects thus proper supplementation is advised. There are researches that says folic acid slows down the effect of aging on the brain.

8. Cyanocobalamin- deficiency causes macrocytic anemia and peripheral neuropathy. Cognitive defecits may also occur. This deficiency is common for elderly who have decreased absorption on their guts.

These are the eight vitamin B and their corresponding symptoms in case of deficiency.