What does a B12 shot do for you? B12 injections have long been a lifesaver for those with pernicious anemia and other types of B12 deficiency. But, even though this site is dedicated to PA patients, an equal number of people with other conditions buy our injectable B12. Why? Let’s look at all the benefits of vitamin B12 shots.
The Benefits of B12 Shots
In order to grasp how significant the benefits of vitamin B12 injections are, just take one look at a person suffering from B12 deficiency. The unbearable fatigue. The neurological rollercoaster, with its rainbow of symptoms. From brain fog and muscle tremors to numbness and tingling sensations, B12 deficiency is certainly no joke.
Why do these signs and symptoms occur?
B12 Protects Your Cognition & Nerves
B12 Deficiency is often associated with cognitive decline. Dr. Christine C. Tangney of the Rush University Medical Center published a study in which elderly people with higher B12 levels scored better on memory and concentration tests than those with lower B12 levels. What’s interesting, their MRI scans showed the B12 deficient people had lower brain volume, meaning, their brains had shrunk. All in all, the study concludes:
Vitamin B12 status may affect the brain through multiple mechanisms.
Vitamin B12, cognition, and brain MRI measures
Of course, correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation. However, it has been known for many years that B12 affects cognitive function, and B12 shots have long been used as an effective treatment in battling dementia and other cognitive disorders.
Now, there’s also your nerve system. Think of it as a huge, dense tangle of wires, each of them insulated by a protective layer called myelin. B12 helps synthesize and maintain this vital layer. Without enough myelin, neurons can’t conduct signals properly.
To illustrate why transmission of nerve signals is so crucial, imagine yourself touching a hot object. The nerves on your skin detect the heat and send a message to your brain, which orders your muscles to instinctively recoil. It all happens in a blink of an eye.
Damage to the myelin sheath is why patients with pernicious anemia and B12 deficiency often report having “pins and needles” and other nerve-related sensations. The beneficial effects on nerves is why B12 helps against neurological disorders like neuropathy.
As you see, B12 is absolutely crucial for keeping a healthy brain and nerve system. So crucial, that a severe deficiency can lead to permanent nerve damage and psychiatric conditions. If you show any neurological symptoms, don’t wait. Start treatment.
B12 Helps Repair DNA & Reduce Homocysteine
Vitamin B12 also helps convert homocysteine into methionine through methylation reactions that repair DNA. Without enough B12, homocysteine levels rise to a dangerous degree. Subsequently, your bone marrow isn’t able to create the DNA it needs for the production of white blood cells, increasing your risk of infections.
Producing Red Blood Cells
Your body needs vitamin B12 in order to create red blood cells. These cells distribute oxygen to the rest of the body. The reduction in red blood cell production is why patients with B12 deficiency report feeling so extremely fatigued (even under the slightest of efforts), sort of like the fatigue you get from altitude sickness.
Should You Take Vitamin B12 Injections For Weight Loss?
The fat-burning B12 shots hype is just that, hype. B12 is not a magic pill. It will only help correct your metabolism if you were deficient in the first place, and even then only so much. For healthy folks, taking B12 for weight loss is wishful thinking. If you see brands touting their B12 as a weight loss solution, beware. They’re putting their financial interests before your health.
Everything we discussed so far is the benefits of B12 itself. But what are B12 shots specifically good for, and why can’t you just use oral B12 tablets instead?
It all comes down to absorption.
The Main Benefit: Bypassing the Stomach
For B12 to absorb, it must follow a complex pathway that requires the normal function of the stomach, pancreas, small intestine, and their acids and enzymes. Any problem in one of the steps may lead to malabsorption. For example, in pernicious anemia (a major cause), antibodies attack the intrinsic factor (IF), a protein required for the absorption of B12, or the gastric parietal cells, which produce IF in the first place.
In fact, most B12 deficiency cases are the result of malabsorption rather than inadequate intake (if you eat animal products, you most certainly eat enough). Such cases are where B12 injections truly show their strength. By injecting, the B12 can bypass the gut and get into the bloodstream, and finally saturate the cells. This is why B12 shots are a godsend to those who need it. In pernicious anemia, they are the only reliable treatment.
This discovery, that injecting B12 can overcome absorption deficits, has given new life to patients who would otherwise get worse and worse. If you suffer from B12 deficiency, shots are the most reliable way to infuse your body with the various benefits of B12.
Quickest Way to Saturate Your Body With B12
What if you don’t have pernicious anemia? What if it’s bacterial overgrowth eating up your B12, or even toxins destroying it? Perhaps you’re a vegan who never took any B12 supplements? You see, B12 deficiency could result from a host of causes.
In any case, shots are always the fastest way to replenish your B12 stores.
Even if you can absorb B12 through the gut, we still recommend B12 shots if you’re deficient, at least in the beginning. As we said, B12 is needed for the maintenance of the myelin sheath. Damage to this layer can become permanent. Why take chances?
Don’t gamble with your life.
Other Vitamin B12 Injections Benefits
Beyond bypassing the normal pathway of absorption, what do B12 injections do? B12 shots are actually used in a variety of medical conditions. Keep in mind, some forms of B12 produce clinical results far superior to others. So, let’s have a look at them all.
Methycobal Injection Benefits
So, other than the rapid, reliable delivery of B12, what do B12 shots help with? Let’s start with methylcobalamin. In this native form, the B12 molecule is attached to a methyl donor. This makes this particular form of B12 very useful in many applications:
- Detoxify cyanide poisoning.
- Reduce homocysteine levels.
- Treat peripheral neuropathy and chronic axonal degeneration.
- Help ALS patients.
- Improve visual and auditory symptoms in multiple sclerosis.
- Improve memory and intellectual function in Alzheimer’s.
- Increase recovery time for facial nerve function in Bell’s palsy.
- Promote neuronal function.
- Protect cortical neurons against neurotoxicity.
- Produce improvements in heart rate variability.
- Improve sperm count, motility, and concentration.
- Enhance the light-induced phase-shift in the human circadian rhythm.
- Improve sensory nerve parameters in stroke patients.
Cyanocobalamin Injections
This is a cheap, synthetic version that is widely available. Stay away from it. In this form, the B12 is attached to a cyanide molecule (hence the name), which your body will have to remove before it can be converted to one of the active forms, methylcobalamin or adenosylcobalamin. This process steals away precious methyl groups.
Also, using this form may be inhibited in some people. It’s especially dangerous to those with liver and kidney problems, or to smokers, because in these people the cyanide can’t be eliminated effectively. Pernicious anemia patients, or anyone with high homocysteine levels, should especially stay away from this form. It may deplete glutathione, the methyl group required to lower homocysteine, thus only making things worse.
Hydroxocobalamin B12 Injection Benefits
Hydroxy B12 doesn’t contain cyanide like cyano B12 does, so there’s no need for decyanation. Although it has to convert to an active form, it still converts much better than cyano B12. Its main benefit is that it reacts with cyanide (CN), nitric oxide (NO), and nitrous oxide (N2O), and is therefore often used as an antidote for toxicity.
For that reason, this form is safe to use in patients with cobalamin metabolic diseases, tobacco amblyopia, or in pernicious anemia patients with optic neuropathy.
Adenosylcobalamin B12 Shots Benefits
Adenosyl B12 is the other native, active form of B12. Like methyl B12, it is also great. For example, it has been shown to help viral hepatitis patients in normalizing total bilirubin (BR), SGOT, SGBT, and alkaline phosphatase values. You’ll rarely find this form in injection kits, though. In any case, methyl B12 should convert to adenosyl B12 when needed.
Vitamin B12 Shots Benefits: Be Grateful
What do B12 shots do for you if you’re a healthy person? Not much, if anything at all. But if you have pernicious anemia or some other type of B12 malabsorption, then the advantages of B12 shots for you are obvious. They are true lifesavers, allowing the passage of this crucial vitamin into your bloodstream, cells, and tissues.
If you think the purpose and benefits of vitamin B12 shots may be useful to your condition, then you can order a vial of pure, A+ grade methyl B12 here.
All the best.