Physiologic Condition
Vitamin B12 is among the eight B vitamins that assist in the conversion of carbohydrates into glucose, which is utilized to manufacture energy. Vitamin B12 further assists the body in utilizing proteins and fats (Wolffenbuttel et al., 2019). An individual with sufficient amounts of B12 has healthy skin, liver, eyes, and hair. The vitamin helps in maintaining the nervous system of an individual. The micronutrient aids the body produce ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which are the body’s genetic material.
Pathophysiologic Condition
Anemia resulting from the lack of vitamin B12 can cause a range of symptoms. These symptoms generally develop continuously; however, they can become worse if one does not treat the disease. Anemia refers to a condition where an individual has lower numbers of red blood cells (Wolffenbuttel et al., 2019). The resulting symptoms that emerge from this condition include a sore and red tongue and yellow skin. When the micronutrient is in excess, an individual may have headaches, vomit, or experience nausea.
Disease Pathway
When individuals do not have sufficient amounts of vitamin B12, their bodies cannot convert homocysteine to methionine. The transformation of tetrahydrofolate (THF) from methyl-THF cannot occur (Langan & Goodbred, 2017). Homocysteine levels increase, thereby inhibiting pyrimidine base formation, which leads to the slowing down of DNA fusion. The resulting condition from the slowing down of DNA synthesis is known as megaloblastic anemia (Wolffenbuttel et al., 2019). Those with this condition show symptoms such as the yellowing of the skin and their tongue becoming red and sore.
Considerations
Managing anemia resulting from insufficient amounts of vitamin B12 is not easy, especially in today’s economy. To ensure that the screening of the disease is cost-friendly, an antigastric parietal cell antibody test was suggested (Langan & Goodbred, 2017). Today, vitamin B12 prevalence in society affects more pregnant women. This ranks them as high-risk patients, and, as a result, they should be among the first to receive treatment. Nurses should be taught how to deal with different cultures to ensure that they can properly diagnose and manage the condition.
Treatment
For those individuals with issues concerning their vitamin B12 levels, the initial treatment is usually injections. These individuals may be required to continuously seek these injections while taking dosages of B12 either orally or nasally. For patients who do not eat meat, the options would be to change their diet to include grains fortified with B12, or if they are deficient in the micronutrient, they can seek options involving injections or oral dosages (Langan & Goodbred, 2017). Older people with low levels of vitamin B12 can use multivitamins that have B12 in them.
References
Langan, R. C., & Goodbred, A. J. (2017). Vitamin B12 deficiency: recognition and management. American family physician, 96(6), 384-389.
Wolffenbuttel, B. H., Wouters, H. J., Heiner-Fokkema, M. R., & van der Klauw, M. M. (2019). The many faces of cobalamin (vitamin B12) deficiency. Mayo clinic proceedings: innovations, quality & outcomes, 3(2), 200-214.