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Vitamin B12 nourishes your body in many important ways, from supporting the nervous system to aiding in the production of red blood cells. Therefore, the lack of this vitamin can be insidious. However, your eyesight can tell you about a vitamin B12 deficiency.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can develop slowly, making the condition “hidden,” explains Harvard Medical School.
This can cause symptoms to appear gradually and worsen over time. However, the onset can also be relatively quick.
The Medanta Medical Institute explains that if you lack B12, which affects the optic nerve, you may experience blurry vision.
Medanta shares: “This happens when a deficiency causes damage to the optic nerve that leads to your eye.
“Due to this damage, the nerve signals from the eye to the brain are disrupted, resulting in poor vision.
“This condition is called optic neuropathy, and treatment with B12 supplements can often reverse the damage.”
Although blurred vision may indicate a vitamin B12 deficiency, it is not the only symptom of the disease.
The various signs can be confusing, but knowing what to look for can be helpful, explains Harvard Medical School.
If you think you may be deficient in vitamin B12, the health service will recommend that you contact your GP immediately.
It states: “It is important to diagnose and treat anemia caused by vitamin B12 or folic acid deficiency as soon as possible.
“This is because while many symptoms improve with treatment, some of the problems caused by this disease may be irreversible.”
The good news is that B12 deficiency can usually be detected based on your symptoms and confirmed with a blood test.
Further actions will depend primarily on the cause of the situation. Thus, treatment may vary depending on what it is directed at.
There are also some good food sources of vitamin B12 such as meat, salmon and cod, milk and dairy products, and eggs.
Because they are of animal origin, vegan and plant-based dieters can often struggle to reach their B12 goals. However, they can be helped, for example, with the help of nutritional supplements.
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