Strokes May Be Caused By Undiagnosed B12 Deficiency

B12 Deficiency can mimic Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, early Parkinson's Disease, infertility in women and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It lurks silently, stealthily increasing its victim's risk of stroke, heart attack, and cancer. It's simple to spot, easy to treat and easy to cure, if your doctor diagnoses it before it's too late.

(PRWEB) September 8, 2005 -- Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada was recently reported to have suffered a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or mini-stroke. There are many reasons for suffering a stroke but one cause not readily recognized by the medical community or the public is vitamin B12 deficiency. Studies show B12 deficiency may affect as much as 25 percent of the U.S. population and that it is more common in the elderly. Senator Reid is 66.

According to Sally M. Pacholok, R.N. co-author with her physician husband, Jeffrey J. Stuart, D.O. of the new book Could It Be B12?: An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses (Quill Driver Books, $12.95), scientists investigating the causes of cardiovascular disease are zeroing in on one culprit in particular—a risk identified more than thirty years ago, but ignored by doctors until recently. It’s homocysteine, an amino acid that can wreak havoc on your cardiovascular system.

It is believed high homocysteine levels put you at risk for heart attacks, strokes, deep vein thromboses (blood clots), and other deadly vascular problems. In fact, homocysteine has been dubbed “the cholesterol of the next century.” (Cholesterol has long been recognized as a contributor to cardiovascular disease.)

Why is homocysteine bad for you?

Homocysteine, while it’s a “good guy” when it is rapidly transformed into beneficial substances, is a “bad guy” when it builds up in your blood. Excess homocysteine causes your blood vessels to lose their elasticity, making it harder for them to dilate and damaging their inner lining. That damage, in turn, allows cholesterol, collagen, and calcium to attach to the inner walls of your blood vessels where they can form sticky deposits called atherosclerotic plaques. These plaques narrow your arteries and drastically increase your risk of suffering deadly disorders, such as heart attacks and strokes.

Initially, researchers wondered if high homocysteine, rather than causing cardiovascular disease, simply occurred as a side effect. Studies show, however, that elevated homocysteine precedes the onset of disease. This strongly indicates that homocysteine, rather than just being a marker for cardiovascular disease, actively contributes to the disease process.

Five to ten percent of the population and as many as 30 percent to 40 percent of senior citizens, have elevated homocysteine levels. The older you are, the more likely you are to have high homocysteine.

What does this have to do with vitamin B12?

A great deal, because B12 allows another nutrient, folic acid, to convert homocysteine into methionine, a nontoxic amino acid. When your B12 levels drop to an unhealthy point, this process breaks down, and your homocysteine levels rise sharply—along with your risk of heart attack or stroke.

Yet, B12 deficiency is not always that easy to detect. A study of 809 people over the age of 65 published by Eric J. Norman and associates in The American Journal of Medicine and Clinical Chemistry illustrates this. Norman, using a highly accurate screening method called the urinary methylmalonic acid (uMMA) test identified undiagnosed B12 deficiency in seven percent of the study’s participants even though 91 percent of this subgroup were not anemic (a common indicator of B12 deficiency) and 49 percent showed no B12 deficiency with the common B12 blood serum test. Norman also found that this undiagnosed group was 2.6 times as likely to suffer a stroke, heart attack, and/or Alzheimer’s Disease. The uMMA test is a more sensitive assay and can detect B12 deficiency before homocysteine reaches dangerous levels.

Since simple, inexpensive B12 treatment is available, if Norman’s seven percent holds true within the population of U.S. seniors, 2.5 million people are unnecessarily at risk of serious cardiovascular disease or Alzheimer’s.

Pacholok says, “It’s clear, given the evidence that high homocysteine is a powerful risk factor for vascular disease in both young and old people, that uMMA screening should become commonplace. We believe this testing should become routine for senior citizens as well as for anyone at risk for cardiovascular problems.”

Could It Be B12?: An epidemic of Misdiagnoses, by Sally M. Pacholok, R.N. and Jeffrey J. Stuart, D.O. is available at better bookstores, online bookstores, and from the publisher at 1-800-497-4909 or QuillDriverBooks.com

For more information:
Nikki Campbell
Quill Driver Books/Word Dancer Press, Inc.
1254 Commerce Avenue
Sanger, CA 93657
(559) 876-2170 • FAX (559) 876-2180 • (800) 497-4909