How low is dangerous

[cheryltony]

How low does it have to be to be dangerous ?

[Sleepybunny]

From what I have read, I think it's very individual.

B12 reference ranges vary all around the UK, some people can exhibit symptoms of severe B12 deficiency with levels of over 400ng/L

I read that Japan has a cut off point at 500 for treatment which is much higher than most european countries. I believe East lancashire has a reference range of 110 - 914ng/L which seems extremely low. My area has a reference range 0f 180 - 1000.

I think if a patient is symptomatic whatever level they have then they are in danger.

Current documents make it clear that symptomatic patinets should be treated even if blood results are "normal"

Sally Pacholok discusses ranges in her book "Could It Be B12"

[cheryltony in reply to Sleepybunny]

Mine was 78

[Sleepybunny in reply to cheryltony]

That seems really low. Some countries use other units of measurement to ng/L.

Are you in the UK?

[cheryltony]

Yes I am .. It was joint pain that took me to my GP .. I have had 6 injections 2 weeks ago and do not feel much better .

[Galixie]

I agree with SleepyBunny that any level where you are experiencing symptoms of deficiency is potentially dangerous. Neurologic symptoms can become permanent with time, so treatment is imperative. Anemia can cause heart palpitations and arrhythmia as well as low blood pressure - all of which can be dangerous.

Untreated B12 deficiency is fatal. Pernicious Anemia got its name because pernicious means "immensely harmful, destructive, or deadly" and, before the discovery of vitamin B12, it was a death sentence. The average life span after diagnosis in the 1930's was about 5 years.