Vitamin B12 - Do You Know Everything?

The term Vitamin B12 is used as a generic descriptor for the cobalamins; cobalt containing compound possessing the corrin ring having the biological activity of vitamin. The active coenzyme forms of vitamin B12 are methylcobalamin and deoxyadenosylcobalamin. Dietary sources of vitamin B12 are of animal origin and include meat, eggs, milk, dairy products, fish and poultry. Vitamin B12 is absent in plant foods and humans obtain small amount of vitamin B12 from their intestinal flora. Vitamin B12 plays a crucial role in DNA synthesis, nucleoprotein, erythropoiesis, myelin synthesis, normal growth and cell reproduction and one carbon metabolism. Vitamin B12 deficiency may arise due to decreased dietary intake. Vitamin B12 helps in isomerization of methylmalonyl-CoA to succinyl-CoA by methylmalonyl-CoA mutase and also helps in conversion of homocysteine to methionine by methionine synthase. Dietary deficiency is seen in strict vegetarians, since vitamin found only in foods of animal origin or in microorganism. Deficiency of Vitamin B12 causes pernicious anaemia, megaloblastic anaemia, methylmalonic aciduria, Neuropathy and folate trap. The present review concludes that vitamin B12 deficiency affects a person’s mental and physical health and it can cause severe, irreversible neurologic damage, disorientation, nerve damage, insomnia and many other diseases as mentioned in article. Adults should take 2.4 mcg of vitamin B12, deficiency is mainly seen commonly in Vegetarian they have to add vegan sources of vitamin B12 to their diet which include fortified cereals, bread, nutritional yeast and plant milks. Early identification of vitamin B12 status should be preliminary screening step to reverse the damage caused by vitamin B12 deficiency which will helps in prevention of diseases.

The Pandemic of 21st Century - COVID-19

The global pandemic of novel coronavirus disease is mainly caused by the infection of Coronavirus ‘SARS-CoV-2’. It is infecting persons of all ethnicity, race and community. Corona viruses are enveloped RNA viruses which range from 60 to 140 nm in diameter with spike like projections on their top. Coronavirus is affecting 199 countries, territories and international transport systems. Covid-19 is a recent pandemic, which started in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 and now it is affecting the whole world. WHO declared this outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. COVID-19 infection is transmitted by inhalation or contact with infected droplets or aerosols of infected persons, and the incubation period ranges from 5 to 14 days. Viral aerosols remain active for 3 hours in the air, 24 hours on cardboards, and 2 to 3 days on stainless steel and plastic. Symptoms are usually fever, cough, breathlessness, sore throat, malaise and fatigue. In some people, it may progress to pneumonia, multiple organ dysfunction, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. People with heart diseases, lung diseases, cancer, old age, diabetics, Immunosuppressed, and pregnant women are at higher risk for COVID-19 infection. To date, there are now more than 2,732,701 cases of COVID 19 globally with more than 191,150 deaths. In India, total cases are 23,502 with 722 deaths. First case of coronavirus was seen on 29 January 2020. On 24 March 2020, the government of India under Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, after a 14-hour voluntary public curfew on 22nd March. India is one of the most populous countries of the world. India has the second largest population in the world. Due to the lack of vaccines, ventilators, targeted therapies, mass gatherings, the Indian government started lockdown, the largest exercise in the world with the second largest population. To reduce public movement, section 144 was implemented in many states. A full lockdown will help the collapse of the whole national health system

Comparison between Fasting and Non-Fasting Sample for the Determination of Serum Lipid Profile.

For determination of serum lipid profile, traditionally we use fasting blood sample. Though it has been the most reliable method for testing lipid profile, it has some drawbacks. Fasting is not easy for some people specially children, diabetics and also it is a barrier for population screening. So, intent of our study is to check the authenticity of results obtained using non-fasting samples by correlating it with the results obtained using fasting samples. We wanted to estimate & compare fasting and non-fasting lipid profile values in severe diabetic patients and in apparently healthy controls.METHODSThis analytical cross sectional study included 40 apparently healthy controls and 40 diabetic patients as participants confirmed by history and biochemical tests. Blood sample was collected from each patient two times; once after 10-12 hours fasting and other as a random sample. Lipid profile parameters were estimated using standard tests. Statistical analysis was done by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Data analysis was carried by Statistical Package SPSS and Microsoft Excel and p<0.05 was considered as level of significance.RESULTSIn apparently healthy controls differences between fasting and non-fasting concentrations were small and clinically insignificant for lipid profile parameters like total cholesterol (p=0.861), LDL-cholesterol (p=0.203) and HDL-cholesterol (p=0.916). The difference was statistically significant (p=0.001) for triglycerides.CONCLUSIONSFasting samples are preferable for serum lipid profile measurement in all individuals with serum triglyceride levels greater than 350 mg/dL. But, non-fasting samples for lipid profile can be used for cardiovascular risk determination in the general people as it reduces patient’s inconvenience and promotes patient acquiescence towards lipid profile checking.