b12

[jazzanne]

The private lab blue horizon b12 range is 250 - 725 pmol/L(which i think the NHS range should be, my question is my sons level was 209 which the private lab say is low, but if it was done by the NHS range 200 - 900 would they say normal as within range ? ps am not sure if NHS is pmol/l or ng/l

[Gambit62 Administrator]

ranges actually vary from lab to lab - this is because it isn't just about the units it is also about the machine that is being used to do the testing.

It is unfortunate that GPS are fixated on using test results to treat - dangerous even. For serum B12 it is well established that it should be based as much on clinical presentation. Functional B12 deficiency is something that gets overlooked/seems to be totally unknown - ie that you can actually be B12 deficient at the cell level whilst serum levels are actually high. Also the test gives you no idea of how well the body is actually doing in processing the B12 from food or other forms into the active forms that are used at cell levels.

It may be worth either sharing the test results with your GP and if he still wants to get a second serum B12 done then draw his/her attention to the following

ukneqas-haematinics.org.uk/...

bcshguidelines.com/document...

(on the guidelines refer to the summary and also to the treatment protocols on p8

[jazzanne in reply to Gambit62]

thanks for your reply

[jazzanne in reply to Gambit62]

his MCH was 32 RANGE 27.0-32.0 AND active b12 was 28.00range 25.10 - 165.00

[Sleepybunny]

Another UK article worth a look, in my opinion, is

bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g5226

Useful summary points. Bullet point 5 in the summary makes it clear that symptomatic patients should be treated to avoid neuro damage.

useful websites

b12d.org

b12deficiency.info/

Lots of useful info on website.

pernicious-anaemia-society....

01656 769 717

martynhooper.com/

patient.info/doctor/pernici...

[jazzanne in reply to Sleepybunny]

Thanks

[jazzanne in reply to Sleepybunny]

his MCH was 32 RANGE 27.0-32.0 AND active b12 was 28.00range 25.10 - 165.00

[Sleepybunny in reply to jazzanne]

Do you know what his MCV (mean corpuscular volume) was?

It's my experience that GPs etc tend to pay more attention to MCV rather than MCH. My MCH was high or borderline on more than one occasion and they just ignored it.

patient.info/doctor/macrocy...

link about macrocytosis

High MCV and high MCH can indicate the possibility of macrocytosis.

active b12 was 28.00

Was he supplementing with any form of B12 at the time? Supplementing prior to test can affect the results.

See links below

active-b12.com/frequently-a...

See 4th point

b12deficiency.info/b12-test...

b12deficiency.info/what-to-...

[jazzanne in reply to Sleepybunny]

no he was not taking anything.

MCV VALUE 88 (80-100) SEPT 2015

MCV VALUE 91 (78-99) NOV 2011

MCV VALUE 90 (78-99) MARCH 2012