Abstract
Purpose : To investigate the prevalence of cobalamin and folate deficiencies among the elderly in the general population of Shiraz in southern Iran. Methods : This is a descriptive cross-sectional study including 340 individuals who are over 50 years old and were selected randomly from all the regions of Shiraz. Results : The study group was made up of 132 (38.8 %) males and 208 (61.2 %) females. In this group 174 (51.2 %) were aged 50 - 59 years and 166 (48.8 %) were aged ≥ 60 years. Cobalamin deficiency ( 0.05). Conclusion : The prevalence of severe cobalamin deficiency with clinical significance is high in the elderly population of Shiraz, Iran. Keywords : Vitamin B12 deficiency, Folate deficiency, Homocysteinemia, Elderly population
Highlights
Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) is a water-soluble vitamin
Vitamin B12 deficiency occurs with atrophic gastritis, intestinal malabsorption, pancreatic insufficiency, decreased intake, consumption of some drugs, inborn errors, transcobalamin l deficiency and errors of cobalamin metabolism [1]
In most of the samples cobalamin serum level was below 300 pg/mL
Summary
Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) is a water-soluble vitamin. Its main role in the body is to transfer methyl groups. Cobalamin is needed for two actions; one of them is conversion of methyl malonyl co-A to succinyl co-A and the other is conversion of homocysteine to methyonin [1]. People are at increased risk of B12 deficiency, due to the risk of both reduced intake and decreased absorption [2,3,4,5]. In this context, serum B12 monitoring has been suggested for the elderly [6]. Cobalamin deficiency may increase serum homocysteine [12]
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