Vitamin B12 Deficiency - Causes Of Memory Impairment: Improving Memory Understanding Age Related Memory Loss
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
Vitamin B12 deficiency
Vitamin B12 helps keep neurons healthy by helping to make and preserve myelin, the fatty sheath that surrounds the axons. A deficiency of this vitamin sometimes occurs in older people and can be caused by dietary factors or an inability of the intestine to absorb vitamin B12. A lack of vitamin B12 can lead to permanent neuronal damage, including memory loss. People who drink heavily or smoke are at increased risk.
B12 deficiency can be detected with a blood test and is usually treatable with vitamin supplementation. Depending upon the cause, the deficiency can be corrected with oral supplementation or monthly injections of the vitamin. In cases caused by malabsorption, it may not help to take vitamin B12 supplements orally because the vitamin won't be absorbed sufficiently during digestion. Instead, people with this deficiency can get injections of the vitamin from their doctors.
Cholesterol and triglyceride levels | |
| Total cholesterol level | Category |
| Less than 200 mg/dL | Desirable |
| 200−239 mg/dL | Borderline high |
| 240 mg/dL and above | High |
| LDL cholesterol level | Category |
| Less than 100 mg/dL | Optimal (70 mg/dL for high- risk group) |
| 100−129 mg/dL | Near optimal/above optimal |
| 130−159 mg/dL | Borderline high |
| 160−189 mg/dL | High |
| 190 mg/dL and above | Very high |
| HDL cholesterol level | Category |
| Less than 40 mg/dL | Low (increased risk) |
| 60 mg/dL and above | High (heart-protective) |
| Triglyceride level | Category |
| Less than 150 mg/dL | Normal |
| 150−199 mg/dL | Borderline high |
| 200−499 mg/dL | High |
| 500 mg/dL and above | Very high |
| Adapted from the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. | |
| Last updated: | January 23, 2007 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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