Nasal Administration of Vitamin B-12

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Nasal Administration of Vitamin B-12

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Topics like this one sound quacky, so let's set the matter straight from the

start:

If you do not like getting shots of B-12, you should be aware that

intranasal absorption is the next best thing. Oral administration of B-12 is

largely

ineffective. This goes for so-called sublingual B-12 supplements as well.

VITAMIN B-12, unlike other B vitamins, is stored in muscle and other organs

of the body.

A little B-12 goes a long way, what is stored lasts a long time, and it may

take YEARS to deplete your body’s reserves. But sooner or later, usually

later (after age 40), not only do poor eating habits catch up with us, but we

also lose the ability to efficiently absorb what B-12 we do get from food.

COBALAMIN is the proper name for vitamin B-12. It is a really huge molecule

(C 63, H 90, O 14, P, Co). The " Co " is for the one cobalt atom at its core.

B-12 is obtained mostly, but not exclusively, by eating animal products such

as dairy and meat. If you therefore think that you have to eat meat to get

your B-12, consider this: Where do grass-and-grain-eating cattle get THEIR

vitamin B-12? From synthesis by microorganisms in their gastrointestinal tract,

that's where. And such synthesis in vegetarian animals is so tremendous that

their milk and flesh is OUR source of B-12. But it all actually came from

their bacteria.

Yes, B-12 is also synthesized in the human GI tract, but not reliably enough

for most people. Such synthesis as occurs may be enhanced by a good

vegetarian diet that favors an internal population of beneficial, B-12 making

bacteria.

But with our diets, we will need more than they can provide. Nutritional

yeast, fermented soy foods such as tempeh, and sprouts (according to some

sources) are vegetarian sources of dietary B-12.

But there still is a physiological hurdle to cross.

Absorption of dietary B-12 takes place in the very last part of the small

intestine, right before the colon. Absorption requires a biochemical helper

molecule called “intrinsic factor,†which is a glycoprotein normally

secreted

by cells lining your stomach. Strong stomach hydrochloric acid is also

required to split up this huge molecule. (That's why a weak acid like vitamin C

(ascorbic acid) is harmless to

B-12, persistent myths to the contrary).

Incidentally, even sublingual (under-the-tongue) B-12 supplements are

probably ineffective because the cobalamin molecule is too large to diffuse

through

the mucosa of the mouth.

And if your body no longer makes intrinsic factor like it should, you cannot

absorb oral B-12 supplements very well, either.

The end result can be pernicious anemia, which is more than the classical

inability to make enough hemoglobin for your red blood cells. Pernicious anemia

also results in a sore mouth and tongue, assorted burning and tingling

sensations (paresthesia), and eventually neurologic damage. I think

Meniere’s,

and dementia symptoms mistaken for Alzheimer’s disease, might be a

manifestation of this.

While there is a urine test for B-12 deficiency (the " isotope-dilution assay

for urinary methylmalonic acid " ), to get it right it is necessary to measure

the cerebrospinal fluid, not the blood, to get accurate B-12 readings. If

you are not a Spinal Tap fan, consider a simple, non-invasive therapeutic trial

of B-12. This is so inexpensive and safe that it would be difficult to deny

it to anyone. I would suggest your doctor try a 1,000 microgram (mcg)

injection at least once a week. Compared to the US RDA of only about 3 mcg,

that

dose may appear rather hefty. But given the miserable nature of Meniere’s,

erring on the high side may be preferable to unnecessarily delaying recovery.

And

l know of no side effects whatsoever to B-12 overdose.

If you do not like the idea of getting shots of B-12, you should be aware

that intra-nasal (that is, by way of the nose) absorption is the next best

thing. It sounds pretty weird, as duly promised at the beginning of this

section,

but it is an efficient delivery method for large-sized molecules whether you

like the sound of it or not.

Your nose has two choices:

1) Buy ready-to-use, over-the-counter B-12 gel, which you will occasionally

find for sale in a pharmacy or health food store. Some products come in

individual disposable packets. These are pricey.

2) Make your own B-12 intra-nasal supplement. It is cheap, easy and best

done behind closed doors. Obtain your doctor’s OK before trying this

procedure.

Take any B-12 tablet (between 100 to 1,000 mcg) and grind it into a powder

between two tablespoons. Add water, just a few drops at a time, to make a

soft paste. With a “Q-Tip,†it’s generic equivalent, or your clean

pinkie

finger, gently swab the paste inside your nose up to a comfortable level. Do

not push; use no force whatsoever. The excipients (tableting ingredients) are

more likely to bother your schnoz than the B-12 is. If it irritates you, try

using less, or a different brand of tablet. I’d try this two times a week

for

a month or two.

Feel free to quit at any time, and get B-12 shots instead. Once in a great

while, doctors (such as “Children’s Doctor†Lendon H. Smith, M.D.) will

even teach you how to give yourself your B-12 shots, but that remains a

singularly rare event.

Hence this nose news.

Copyright 2004 and prior years by Andrew W. Saul. From the book DOCTOR

YOURSELF, available from Andrew Saul, 23 Greenridge Crescent, Hamlin, NY 14464

USA