Mood Support: Vitamin B12 plays a role in neurotransmitter production, helping to regulate mood and potentially alleviating symptoms of anxiety and depression
Most of that risk comes not from diet but from a quiet, gradual decline in the body's ability to absorb B12 from food, plus the very common prescription medications (metformin, omeprazole, esomeprazole, famotidine) that further reduce absorption
Neurology of Nutritional Vitamin B12 Deficiency in Infants: Case Series From India and Literature Review. J Child Neurol
Conditions include alcoholic liver disease, viral hepatitis, cirrhosis, and primary or metastatic liver cancer Renal dysfunction : Impaired kidney function reduces B12 elimination, causing accumulation even with normal intake Haematological conditions : Myeloproliferative neoplasms, chronic myeloid leukaemia, polycythaemia vera, and hypereosinophilic syndrome increase transcobalamin production, elevating total serum B12 Laboratory interference : Macro-B12 (immunoglobulin-bound B12) and assay interference can cause spuriously elevated results without true excess In clinical practice, unexplained hypercobalaminaemia should prompt investigation for underlying disease, particularly in patients without obvious supplementation history
Women specific considerations Women generally require lower doses relative to body weight compared to men