Does Vitamin B Regenerate the Liver?
Once cirrhosis -- which means severe scarring and fibrosis -- develops in liver tissue, the cirrhotic part will never regenerate. B-complex vitamins can help with effects of cirrhosis such as memory loss and nerve damage if you have liver damage, especially if you drink heavily. If you have liver inflammation without cirrhosis, your liver can regenerate if you remove whatever is causing the damage. Simply taking B vitamins without removing the source of damage, however, won't regenerate your liver cells.
B Vitamins and Your Liver
Liver disease can cause vitamin B deficiencies. The B-complex family comprises eight different B vitamins. Vitamin B deficiency most often occurs in alcoholics as a result of poor diet. B-complex vitamins often affected by liver disease include B1, or thiamine; B-6; and B-12. For instance, according to a 2014 article in "e-SPEN Journal", poor liver function diminishes B-12 stores and metabolism. Alcoholics with liver damage develop B-1 deficiency because they either don't consume enough B-1 in their diet or they don't absorb the vitamin well enough in the intestine. Alcohol also interferes with folate absorption.
How B Vitamins Help
Taking vitamin B supplements can improve the nutritional deficiencies that often develop when you have liver disease. Severe B-1 deficiency causes mental confusion, poor coordination, memory problems and ocular nerve paralysis; B-1 supplements can help reverse these symptoms. B-6 deficiency can cause numbness and tingling from nerve damage. Vitamin B-12 deficiency can cause many of the same symptoms, which will reverse when you treat the deficiency. B-12 and folate deficiencies can cause anemia.
Just taking an over-the-counter multivitamin containing B vitamins won't resolve serious vitamin B deficiencies. Your doctor can prescribe megadoses of certain B-complex vitamins to overcome your deficiencies. You will need to take B-12 in large amounts prescribed by your doctor, but B-12 isn't well-absorbed by mouth; alternatively, you can take the vitamin by injection or sublingually. In some cases, you may need to take B-1 intravenously to overcome deficiencies.
Vitamin B supplements are water-soluble, which means that any excess you take is generally eliminated in the urine. B-complex vitamins work in concert with one another; taking a large amount of one B-complex vitamin can cause deficiencies in others, the University of Maryland Medical Center warns. Vitamin B-6 in large doses can cause nerve damage. Take large amounts of B-complex vitamins only while under your doctor's care.
A registered nurse with more than 25 years of experience in oncology, labor/delivery, neonatal intensive care, infertility and ophthalmology, Sharon Perkins has also coauthored and edited numerous health books for the Wiley "Dummies" series. Perkins also has extensive experience working in home health with medically fragile pediatric patients.