A recent case report in a medical journal, BMJ Case Reports, notes that a woman in her late 20s was admitted to an ER when her legs went numb. After tests, doctors there soon diagnosed her with a vitamin B12 deficiency.
Doctors said her diet “lacked nutrition,” according to the report.
The woman, who was unnamed, was in her late 20s. In addition to her legs going numb, the young woman also experienced symptoms such as lethargy and shortness of breath. These are common symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency.
Blood tests later confirmed that the woman, who was almost 30 weeks pregnant, did indeed have a vitamin B12 deficiency.
Vitamin B12 is important for nerves and red blood cells that carry oxygen through the body. Typically, someone would develop a deficiency like this due to two causes: a malabsorption because of a condition like anemia or because they aren’t eating enough.
According to Insider, pregnant woman need more of this vitamin than normal.
The vitamin is naturally found in things like eggs, meat, and dairy. Though for those who don’t eat animal products, the vitamin can be found in certain fortified cereals, yeast flakes, and marmite.
A research study in Canada found that 38% of the 368 pregnant women included in the study were deficient when they gave birth.
The BMJ Case Reports report notes that a deficiency like this can lead to complications including low birth weight, birth defects, and miscarriage.
The pregnant woman in this particular case had a BMI of 40, which means she had severe obesity. The doctors noted that she "was not a vegetarian, but her diet lacked nutrition."
"The cause of her vitamin B12 deficiency was thought likely to be due to a nutritional deficiency as there was minimal intake of animal products in her diet," they wrote.
The doctors treated the woman with a regimen of daily B12 injections for a week and additional injections for a month. According to the report, the woman carried the pregnancy to term.
