04-15-2007, 03:15 PM
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Lecturer
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 781
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Excess folic acid can cause harm if B12 is deficient.
Quote:
If you feel you are losing your ability to reason or think
clearly, or if you suffer mood disorders such as depression, ask
your doctor to do blood tests for homocysteine, folic acid,
pyridoxine and vitamin B12. If these tests are normal, you should
get tests for thyroid function, cholesterol and other causes of
arterial damage.
You can suffer from B12 deficiency even if your blood
levels are normal. When you body lacks B12, your red blood cells
do not mature properly and are much larger than normal, and
homocysteine accumulates in your bloodstream, damaging your
arteries and brain cells. Having low levels of B12 can damage
every nerve in your body including your brain, to make you
forgetful and impair your ability to reason and solve problems. If
you are low on B12, taking folic acid supplements or eating food
heavily fortified with folic acid may cost you IQ points. A study
from Tufts University showed that people who have low blood
levels of B12 can suffer nerve damage, and those who also had
high blood levels of folic acid had far more nerve damage than
those with normal levels (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
January 2007). DianaMirkin Newsletter
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