B12 Deficiency/PA in children/young adults

[Sleepybunny]

Hi,

Do any of you know if PA or other forms of B12 deficiency present differently in children/young adults to older adults?

Can joint pains be a sign of b12d/PA in young people?

Thanks for your help.

[Hidden]

Hi Sleepybunny,

In young children PA/ B12 def is often seen with failure to thrive, staying small and slow development I believe, but non of that seems to apply to older ones, same symptoms as for all applies I believe. Joint pain as such is not typical of PA as far as I know, but its so diverse that I can only speak for my self and what I have seen in my family, which is all more the typical tired and lack of concentration issues, in ability to come up with the right words, numbers not adding up, brain not working, to tired feeling etc.

Some more here:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/241...

On the old PAS forum is a A red flag list of what to look for if you suspect your baby, child, or teenager, may be B12 Deficient. Copied from Sally Pacholok's book, "Could it be B12, An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses"

Its the topic called B12 defiency in infants, children and teenagers, this is in the information and research section 7th topic down, see:

pernicious-anaemia-society....

And more in topic called kids 18th down in the same information and research section,

I hope this helps,

Kind regards,

Marre.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

Don't know if this helps at all

b12awareness.org/cobalamin-...

I get some degree of joint pain - mainly the ankles but it seems to be related to stiffness and stiffness does seem to be quite common.

[MariLiz]

Hi sleepy bunny, yes I do think it can present as pain in the joints and muscles. Young people are growing, and if there is a lack of B12, (which often means other deficiencies too), normal growth can be affected. If you read "Pernicious Anaemia The Forgotten Disease" by Martyn Hooper he describes a case history of a young American boy. This case went undetected for a long time, and the boy became really ill. Unfortunately doctors are still under the impression that it is an illness of older people! MariLiz

[Sleepybunny]

Thanks for the replies.

Do any of you know what a good level of iron is for teenagers? I am concerned about someone I know whose levels are at the very bottom of the range 10 - 300. They are not being treated as their levels are "normal". Their B12 is in the grey zone and folate just over 5. Vitamin D level is offically "insufficient" and they are being treated for this.

[Hidden in reply to Sleepybunny]

As far as I've experienced only when deficient and often two blood tests sow a deficiency will you get treatment on NHS. But if there is a problem then it will only be a matter of time when that will show up. So walking out the door mat of your surgery is best if one knows something is not right..

[Sleepybunny]

Just to add a quick comment.

I guess most people realise that reference ranges are different for children compared to adults. So it is worth trying to find out the reference ranges for blood tests for children in your area.

I googled "my county children's serum reference ranges"

The age at which children are treated as adults varies from area to area in the uk.

It might be possible to get the info by submitting an FOI freedom of Information request to the NHS in your county/area.