45-year-old Aunt Wang had a small cold a month and a half ago, and she thought she would be cured by taking some cold medicine, but after being sick for 3 days, she felt persistent pain in her right buttocks, back of her thighs and outer calves. In this regard, Aunt Wang came to the local hospital for examination without saying a word.
After learning about Aunt Wang's condition, the doctor performed routine tests such as fronterolateral DR examination of the lumbar spine, tumor marker examination, abdominal color ultrasound, and blood routine. In the end, the doctor diagnosed Aunt Wang's symptoms as right-sided sciatica and recommended that she adopt a corresponding treatment plan, including oral vitamin B12.
But the problem came, Aunt Wang saw that the bottle of vitamin B12 in her hand was only a few yuan, and she couldn't help muttering in her heart, "Can it be cured so cheaply". So, what exactly is vitamin B12, and what diseases can it prevent and treat?
1. Vitamin B12 is inconspicuous? Doctors remind: it is beneficial for people of all ages
Common vitamin B12 is a kind of water-soluble vitamin, but we must be clear about this, vitamin B12 is composed of porphyrin ring structure and cobalt atoms, that is, it is the only vitamin that contains metal elements in all vitamin types, and is an essential element to maintain the normal basic functions of growth, development, metabolism and other basic functions of all age groups.
First of all, for children, an appropriate amount of vitamin B12 can promote the synthesis of protein and DNA in the body, promote cell differentiation and repair of various tissues, on the other hand, it can also accelerate the synthesis of red blood cells in the body and increase the content of hemoglobin, so as to promote and improve children's growth and development and immunity.
Secondly, vitamin B12, as a nutrient that can promote the synthesis of neurotransmitters, is also effective in relieving anxiety, improving sleep quality and enhancing physical strength, which is essential for adults and the elderly.
In addition to vitamin B12, it can even easily solve the following diseases, what is going on?
Vitamin B12 may be able to "settle" the following 5 diseases, so hurry up and understand
1. Oral spuriousness
As a common oral disease, canker sores are simply caused by the necrosis of epithelial cells of the oral mucosa, and the reason why vitamin B12 can treat this disease is mainly due to a certain mechanism of this ingredient after entering the human body.
As we said before, vitamin B12 can promote the production of DNA and protein in the body, and DNA, as a component of the body's nucleic acids, has a great effect on the growth and reproduction of cells in the body with the increase in the number of proteins.
When the number of new cells is greater than the number of necrotic cells in the oral mucosa, it can relieve the symptoms of ulcers and promote the healing of mouth ulcers.
2. Anemia
As a complex water-soluble vitamin, vitamin B12 can improve anemia in two main ways. First of all, vitamin B12 can be fully integrated into the blood, and the various nutrients it has can better maintain the normal progress and metabolism of blood system functions, thereby greatly promoting hemoglobin production and blood circulation, and improving the symptoms of anemia from the side.
In addition, vitamin B12 is converted into an organic compound called methylcobalamin through a series of biological reactions after entering the body, which in turn directly improves the utilization rate of folic acid in the body.
It is important to know that folic acid, as a component rich in amino acids and pyranidine, if its utilization effect is improved, the absorption efficiency of iron in the body and the synthesis of hemoglobin will increase, thereby alleviating anemia.
3. Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases
Generally speaking, whether it is a patient with coronary heart disease or cerebrovascular disease, there is a commonality in the body indicators, that is, homocysteine will be high, that is to say, the increase of homocysteine will promote the onset of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
As an intermediate product of methionine and cysteine, it is abnormal, mainly because of the lack of folic acid in the body or the increase in methionine levels, and vitamin B12 can not only improve the utilization of folic acid in the body after entering the human body, but also participate in the metabolism of methionine and cysteine.
This can radically reduce the amount and level of homocysteine production, thereby playing a role in regulating and decreasing, so vitamin B12 has also become a common drug for patients with this type of disease.
4. Neurological disorders
First of all, we all know that vitamin B12 contains a certain amount of cobalt atoms, and the metal component has a certain positive effect on blood production and circulation in the body, so that when the blood circulation of the whole body is strengthened, the nervous system is bound to benefit from this, get more blood nutrition support, and promote the development and normal function of the nervous system.
Secondly, vitamin B12, as a component of nourishing nerves, has a great effect on the formation of nerve axons and nerve myelin sheaths.
When the various components of the nervous system are in a relatively stable and nutritious growth environment, the possibility of various damaging lesions will be greatly reduced, which greatly avoids the possibility of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, which is why the elderly should pay more attention to vitamin B12 supplementation.
5. Skin diseases
The reason why vitamin B12 can play a role in the treatment of skin diseases is mainly because after it is integrated into the blood, it can participate in various synthetic and metabolic effects through the "parasite" of the blood, and produce ingredients such as collagen and nucleoside dealkalis, which can promote skin repair and regeneration and relieve skin discomfort.
As a component that is "needed by the human body but cannot be synthesized independently", vitamin B12 can only be obtained from beef, mutton and some animal offal, which makes it impossible for some long-term vegetarians to obtain sufficient vitamin B12 in their bodies.
Foreign studies have confirmed that eating only vegetarian food will lack vitamin B12, and it is necessary to be vigilant against the risk of stroke
The British Medical Journal published an experiment involving more than 48,000 subjects with an average age of 45 years old, and researchers found a surprising phenomenon after statistics and analysis of their "meat and vegetarian" dietary patterns and physical health conditions:
Vegetarians are supposed to have healthier eating patterns, but compared to meat eaters, vegetarians have significantly lower levels of vitamin B12 than normal, and the risk of stroke increases by 20%.
At the same time, the University of London also conducted a rigorous analysis of the internal indicators of specialized vegetarians, and the results showed that:
• At least 20% of vegetarians are severely deficient in vitamin B12, which prevents many enzymes in the body from being metabolized normally due to a lack of cofactors, which may be related to stroke.
Therefore, it is recommended that vegetarians should pay proper attention to the "balanced diet", and if they really "can't eat meat", they can choose to consume vitamin B12 supplements to maintain their body's needs and avoid a variety of potential health risks.
Doctor concludes
It is recommended that all age groups focus on vitamin B12 supplementation: for adults, it is recommended to limit the intake to 2.4 μg per day if taking vitamin B12 supplementation tablets orally.
For the elderly or children, if you don't want to take tablets orally, you should pay more attention to a balanced diet, maintain the daily intake of livestock, poultry, meat, eggs and milk at 120g-200g, and pay attention to the combination of fruits and vegetables to ensure that the nutrients are fully supplemented.
bibliography
[1] Risk of ischemic heart disease and stroke in meat-eaters, fish-eaters, and vegetarians at 18-year follow-up: results of the prospective EPIC-Oxford study. British Medical Journal
[2] Recommended Daily Intake of Vitamin B12 . Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents 2022 Edition