Skip to main content
Evidence-Based Supplement Research
Evidence-Based Supplement Research
Pillser
Search
Sign UpLog In

Neurological Implications of Vitamin B12 Deficiency in Diet: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

  • 2023-03-27
  • Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) 11(7)
    • Mubarak Alruwaili
    • Rehana Basri
    • Raed AlRuwaili
    • Anas Mohammad Albarrak
    • Naif H Ali

Study Design

Type
Review
Population
older adults and children
Methods
systematic review of databases PubMed-MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Scopus using keywords "Cognition", "Dietary patterns", "Neurology", "Nutritional profile", and "Vitamin B12"

Background

Vitamin B12 is one of the most important B-Vitamins that the human body needs on a daily basis, the lack of which can precipitate several neurological issues.

Objectives

This systematic aimed to investigate the neurological implications of Vitamin B12 deficiency and the effects when B12 levels were corrected in susceptible individuals.

Methods

The databases PubMed-MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Scopus were all searched using pertinent keywords, reference searches, and citation searches. The terms used to access the database were "Cognition", "Dietary patterns", "Neurology", "Nutritional profile", and "Vitamin B12".

Results

Vitamin B12 was shown to noticeably improve cognition and other neurological parameters in the short term in older adults and the short-to-medium term in children; however, there was no perceived increase/improvement when the Vitamin was administered in the longer term, either alone or in conjunction with other similar nutritional interventions.

Conclusion

Vitamin B12's role in the improvement of neurological functions over a long-term period remains somewhat inconclusive to date, as the majority of our selected control trials did not display much correlation between the two factors. However, Vitamin B12 did improve cognition levels in both children and older adults over a short course of administration.

Research Insights

  • Vitamin B12→Improved Attention Span

    Vitamin B12's role in the improvement of neurological functions over a long-term period remains somewhat inconclusive to date, as the majority of our selected control trials did not display much correlation between the two factors

    Effect
    Neutral
    Effect size
    Small
  • Vitamin B12→Improved Cognition

    there was no perceived increase/improvement when the Vitamin was administered in the longer term, either alone or in conjunction with other similar nutritional interventions

    Effect
    Neutral
    Effect size
    Small
  • Vitamin B12→Improved Neurological Parameter

    Vitamin B12 was shown to noticeably improve cognition and other neurological parameters in the short term in older adults and the short-to-medium term in children

    Effect
    Beneficial
    Effect size
    Moderate
Back to top