Thursday, December 8, 2011

B-12 deficiency rises, lack of awareness blamed.

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Doctors in Ahmedabad are reporting rising incidence of Vitamin B-12 deficiency, a situation believed to have been worsened by the use of water treated by the reverse osmosis (RO) process.

But incidentally, there is not much research happening in the field to find if there is a co-relation between the two. The state government too seems to be blissfully unaware of the situation.

Most of the doctors DNA talked to admitted that RO water could have a role to play in widespread vitamin B12 deficiency but they also blamed the purely vegetarian diet of the people. "To be honest, there is no reliable data available to know if RO water has worsened the situation. But having said that let me also add that it may be just one of the factors responsible for the situation.

It should be remembered that non-vegetarian diet is often rich in Vitamin B-12 and most of the people in the city are vegetarians, so this may be another factor," said Dr Atul Trivedi, assistant professor, community medicine department of BJ Medical College.

Trivedi said studies need to be conducted to find the relation between RO water and vitamin B-12 deficiency. "But, such a study will need to be multi-departmental," said Trivedi. Dr Jitendra A Patel, another physician had an interesting thing to say about the rising incidence of vitamin B-12 deficiency.

"It is not as if people in the city turned vegetarian in the last few years and hence the deficiency. The rising level of awareness is another reason why more people know of this deficiency. It is only in the last few years that even doctors are going in for investigation relating to the same." He said before blaming RO water there was a need to research the entire matter properly.

Doctors also admit that gone are the days when malaria treatment was the biggest revenue source for the doctors. It has now been replaced by Vitamin B12 injections and pills. "The research should be carried out on a sample which has RO water users, vegetarians and non-vegetarians to come to a concrete conclusion," said Dr Patel.

Shaji Warrier, a vegetarian,who was identified with Vitamin B-12 deficiency some years ago, said, "At that time, my doctor told me that my largely vegetarian diet was to be blamed. He also said that drinking RO water could have worsened the situation." Dr Suresh Shah, who has treated 350 patients with vitamin B- 12 deficiency said, "The RO process filters out even the essential minerals and so they may be responsible for the deficiency. But it is difficult to make a concrete statement due to lack of research on the subject. It is time we carry out a research on the subject."

Source Citation
"B-12 deficiency rises, lack of awareness blamed." DNA [Daily News & Analysis] 5 Dec. 2011. General OneFile. Web. 8 Dec. 2011.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA274091053&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A274091053

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Doctors in Ahmedabad are reporting rising incidence of Vitamin B-12 deficiency, a situation believed to have been worsened by the use of water treated by the reverse osmosis (RO) process.

But incidentally, there is not much research happening in the field to find if there is a co-relation between the two. The state government too seems to be blissfully unaware of the situation.

Most of the doctors DNA talked to admitted that RO water could have a role to play in widespread vitamin B12 deficiency but they also blamed the purely vegetarian diet of the people. "To be honest, there is no reliable data available to know if RO water has worsened the situation. But having said that let me also add that it may be just one of the factors responsible for the situation.

It should be remembered that non-vegetarian diet is often rich in Vitamin B-12 and most of the people in the city are vegetarians, so this may be another factor," said Dr Atul Trivedi, assistant professor, community medicine department of BJ Medical College.

Trivedi said studies need to be conducted to find the relation between RO water and vitamin B-12 deficiency. "But, such a study will need to be multi-departmental," said Trivedi. Dr Jitendra A Patel, another physician had an interesting thing to say about the rising incidence of vitamin B-12 deficiency.

"It is not as if people in the city turned vegetarian in the last few years and hence the deficiency. The rising level of awareness is another reason why more people know of this deficiency. It is only in the last few years that even doctors are going in for investigation relating to the same." He said before blaming RO water there was a need to research the entire matter properly.

Doctors also admit that gone are the days when malaria treatment was the biggest revenue source for the doctors. It has now been replaced by Vitamin B12 injections and pills. "The research should be carried out on a sample which has RO water users, vegetarians and non-vegetarians to come to a concrete conclusion," said Dr Patel.

Shaji Warrier, a vegetarian,who was identified with Vitamin B-12 deficiency some years ago, said, "At that time, my doctor told me that my largely vegetarian diet was to be blamed. He also said that drinking RO water could have worsened the situation." Dr Suresh Shah, who has treated 350 patients with vitamin B- 12 deficiency said, "The RO process filters out even the essential minerals and so they may be responsible for the deficiency. But it is difficult to make a concrete statement due to lack of research on the subject. It is time we carry out a research on the subject."

Source Citation
"B-12 deficiency rises, lack of awareness blamed." DNA [Daily News & Analysis] 5 Dec. 2011. General OneFile. Web. 8 Dec. 2011.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA274091053&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A274091053

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