Sounded at the 1st Autumn Online Congress of Medicine for Practice December 2020-November 2021: forgotten vitamin B12
Abstract
As part of the 1st autumn online Congress of Medicine for Practice, which was launched in 2020, prof. In his transmission, Kvapil devoted himself to lesser-known facts about vitamin B12.
He showed that patients with diabetes, especially during long-term treatment with metformin, are at 3 times higher risk of deficiency of this vitamin than the general population. Clinical manifestations developing after 2 years of insufficient intake include permicious anemia, mucosal changes, neuropsychiatric disorders, but also neurological symptoms imitating diabetic neuropathy.
Preventive and therapeutic vitamin B12 supplementation is now possible not only in the form of injection, but also in the oral form, which is enabled by passive absorption of the vitamin independent of the presence of intrinsic factor. Administration of 1,000 μg of vitamin B12 in oral form has been shown to provide comparable serum levels as intramuscular administration.