Vitamin B12 Advanced Profile

We believe this profile is a little gem. So much information about red blood cell health and more can be gathered from the tests within and very few profiles offer Active B12 levels as standard. With this knowledge, you can be far more confident of your true B12 status than you might be with the total B12 level alone. The blood count and folate level are included in this profile - these markers should generally be evaluated at all times alongside B12 estimation.

Vitamin B12 is an important vitamin, essential for the normal functioning of many body processes. Deficiency can lead to anaemia (poor quality red blood cells) and neurological (nerve) disorders. It is most abundant in meat products so vegetarians are more vulnerable to deficiency of this vitamin.

Pernicious anaemia develops if uptake of vitamin B12 into the blood from the gut is absent or severely impaired, and even if a diet rich in the vitamin is taken, deficiency will occur if this disease is present. Recent evidence suggests that mild deficiency is probably more common than previously thought. Mild deficiency may explain the presence of fatigue and a host of other limiting symptoms.