B12 is vital for keeping your memory sharp
In a study of 61 to 87 year olds, the lower the level of B12 the greater was the brain size shrinkage. Two in five people over age 61 had a level of B12 that was associated with accelerated brain shrinkage and memory decline. None of these subjects were diagnosed as classically B12 deficient. However, the lower your B12 status, the worse is a person’s memory scores. Less B12 means higher homocysteine levels and the higher a person’s homocysteine level the greater is their risk for dementia or Alzheimer’s.[2,3]
However, low B12 status is rarely properly checked for and there are good grounds for making it a routine test, along with homocysteine, for anyone over the age of 60. This is because its ability to be absorbed becomes worse with age. The usual means of checking is to measure one’s plasma B12 levels, but this is a very crude measure and it is becoming clear that having a level in the low end of the so-called ‘normal’ range is associated with worsening memory.
Testing your B12 status
In fact, in Japan they treat a level below 500ng/l; in the UK, the cut off point is often 150ng/l. Much more accurate is a test called MMA (methylmalonic acid), which is a more reliable marker for B12 deficiency and becomes high if you are deficient. Another alternative is to test HoloTransCobalamin(HoloTC) which, if low, indicates deficiency. An MMA test is more widely available. This chemical only accumulates if you are deficient in B12, or not using it efficiently.
If you want to be sure of your B12 status it is best to get your MMA level tested. This should be below 0.37mol/l. If your homocysteine level is also high it is wise to assume you are not getting enough vitamin B12. My on-line 100% Health check works out your likelihood of being vitamin B12 deficient.
The Osteoporosis Connection
One interesting discovery is the link between homocysteine, low B12 levels and bone and joint health. Over the last five years, there have been more and more studies linking high homocysteine and low B12 levels to increased risk of fractures, osteoporosis and decreased bone mass density, particularly in women. It looks as if homocysteine, raised by B12 deficiency, actually damages bone by encouraging its breakdown and interfering with the collagen matrix which is what holds bone together. Collagen is made from vitamin C, which is yet another reason why I recommend a daily intake of 1000mg taken twice a day.
High homocysteine levels are linked to most inflammatory diseases, since homocysteine promotes the release of pro-inflammatory agents in the body. Homocysteine levels are frequently found to be much higher in rheumatoid arthritis sufferers  as well as those with ankylosing spondylitis, which is an inflammatory arthritic disease of the spine.
Since rheumatoid arthritis is a ‘systemic’ disease, where the whole body’s chemistry is out of balance and many tissues and organs other than the joints are affected, one would suspect that homocysteine plays a leading role in the disease. And it does. Research from the Department of Biochemistry at the University Hospital in Madrid, Spain, examined the homocysteine scores of women with rheumatoid arthritis versus those without. There was a massive difference. The average homocysteine score for those with rheumatoid arthritis was a sky-high 17.3, compared to 7.6 for those without! 
B12 and arthritis
Other research groups have found similar differences, especially among rheumatoid arthritis sufferers with a history of thrombosis  or abnormal clotting of the blood. Homocysteine is now thought to damage joints and other tissues directly. All of this suggests that reducing homocysteine may well help keep your bones and joints healthy. Yet, disappointingly, very little research has yet been done to test the homocysteine theory on arthritis. An exception occurred in 1994 when forward-thinking researchers from the highly esteemed American College of Nutrition in Clearwater, Florida, gave B12 and folate supplements to 26 people who had been suffering from osteoarthritis of the hands for an average of more than five years, and had been taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving drugs (NSAIDs). B12 and folate work together to help reduce high homocysteine levels.
The results showed that people with arthritis who took the vitamins in place of the NSAIDs had less tenderness in their hand joints, and similar improvement in their ability to grip objects, compared with those just taking NSAIDs, but suffered none of the notorious side-effects seen with the use of these drugs.  NSAIDs can cause serious reactions, including premature death from kidney failure, ulcers and bleeding in the digestive tract, and they cost considerably more than B12 and folate supplements.
B12 and chronic fatigue
A common sign of B12 deficiency, known as pernicious anaemia, is chronic fatigue. Other tell-tale signs are brain fogs, breathlessness (sighing and gulping), brittle nails with ridges, pins and needles, swollen or sore tongue, balance problems and unsteadiness. These can be experienced by young and old since some people have innate difficulty ......
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