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Vegetarian’s Myelopathy

Vegetarians got a disease named after them.

December 28, 2010 |
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Supplementary Info

Vegetarian’s Myelopathy, 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

Sources Cited

I. Elmadfa and I. Singer. Vitamin b-12 and homocysteine status among vegetarians: A global perspective. Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 89(5):1693-1698, 2009.

Intern Med. 2006;45(10):705-6. Epub 2006 Jun 15. Subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord in vegetarians: vegetarian's myelopathy. Takahashi H, Ito S, Hirano S, Mori M, Suganuma Y, Hattori T.

Acknowledgements

Transcript

I’m not going to harp on it too much this year, but a major review was just published:60% of vegans are B12 deficient, because they’re not regularly eating B12 fortified foods or taking B12 supplements. So that means yet another year of horror story, after horror story, after horror story, after horror story, after horror story.
Vegetarians even got a disease named after them! Vegetarian’s myelopathy. People eating plant-based diets must take vitamin b12.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

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Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

For some context, please check out my associated blog post: Vegan B12 deficiency: putting it into perspective.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mms9070/ mms9070

    B-12 in cyanocobalamin form or methylcobalamin form? At my local veg society dinner last month the speaker said the cyanocobalamin can’t be used by the human body and buying the methylcobalamin is much better. Marketing hype or current unresolved controversy?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      Great question mms9070. See my answer over at Vegan B12 deficiency: putting it into perspective.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mms9070/ mms9070

      Got it! That makes sense. Thanks.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=670735069 Tan Truong

    Some of the dogmatic vegans need to pay attention to this.

  • April Barnswell

    I’m sure someone has mentioned this already, but omnivores are at risk these days of B12 deficiency, too. It’s not strictly a vegan problem. Much of the animals raised for meat aren’t grazing naturally anymore (grain fed), so the animals are deficient in B12, which means the humans eating them are deficient in B12 as well. My co-workers father was just diagnosed with B12 deficiency, and he is a meat eater.

    • http://www.DonForresterMD.com/ Don Forrester MD

       Beyond the issues you mention is an autoimmune disorder, Pernicious Anemia. Certain cells in the stomach normally produce a substance called intrinsic factor which is necessary for the B12 to be absorbed by our receptor sites. This doesn’t effect the passive diffusion mechanism but does markedly alter the amount of oral B12 needed to meet our requirements… see http://nutritionfacts.org/video/cheapest-source-of-vitamin-b12/ plus the other in the excellent series of B12 videos February 3 to 9 of this year. If diagnosed with B12 deficiency it is important to work with your physician to be treated and tested periodically.

  • Michael Greger M.D.

    Also be sure to check out my associated blog post Vegan B12 deficiency: putting it into perspective!

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