Mono Sclerosis :: Stop MS in its tracks before it becomes Multiple

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin or Methycobalamin) - Dosage -100 mcg/day

Vitamin B12 is very important in MS. It is needed for a healthy myelin sheath, nervous system and bone marrow. Lack of B12 can impair the processes of the immune system.

People with MS may be deficient in B12 due to malabsorption in the gut or to a disorder in binding and/or transport of the vitamin. Doctors at King's College Hospital in London found several people with MS to have a B12 deficiency, and abnormally large blood cells.

Dr E.H. Reynolds, writing in the Archives of Neurology, says: " Our observations suggest there is a significant association between MS and vitamin B12 deficiency and that Vitamin B12 deficiency should always be looked for in MS."

In a B12 deficiency, toxic fatty acids destroy the myelin sheath. But high enough doses of B12 can repair it. When given B12, people with MS can experience more energy, less fatigue, a reduction in pins and needles and tingling sensations, as improvement in neurological symptoms, less depression and better sleep. Eyesight and hearing can also improve.

B12 is not assimilated very well via the gut - it is best to have injections into the muscle of the arm or buttock. Try and get a weekly injection of 1000mcg from your doctor or nurse at your local practice. Alternatively, you can take B 12 under the tongue in liquid or tablet form. Some private doctors specialising in MS give several times more B12 than this.

Dr Patrick Kingsley sometimes prescribes doses as high as 12,000mcg once a week by intravenous infusion, usually with other essential nutrients. Intramuscular doses are commonly between 4,000 and 8,000 micrograms once a week for several weeks. Dr Kingsley has found that high doses of B 12 have helped stop an attack in its tracks. "B 12 is absolutely marvellous. We have been able to completely clear an MS relapse within half an hour of administering a suitably high dose of vitamin B 12 intravenously."

Dr Kingsley finds that B12 in high doses helps decrease the symptoms of MS associated with mercury poisoning. "We continue giving high doses until the person has become mercury negative".

Dr Britt Ahlrot-Westerlund in Sweden uses Methylcobalamin, along with Selenium and Vitamin E, to treat MS. The methylcobalamin form of B12 is the type used in the central nervous system. Cyanocobalamin is converted by the liver into methylcobalamin.

Research

There are studies reported in the medical literature that vitamin B12 levels in the serum, red blood cells and cerebro spinal fluid are low in multiple sclerosis. One study on 16 MS patients aged 20-63 found they were significantly lower in B12 than healthy subjects. If there is a B12 deficiency, this could aggravate the disease or be another cause of progressive demyelination.

Massive doses of B12 have been given in a trial in Japan on 24 patients with MS. The researchers found there was a significant decrease in the unsaturated vitamin B 12 binding capacities in the patients with MS. This indicated a defect in the transport of vitamin B12 into cells. In 6 patients with severe chronic progressive MS, the oral administration of 60mg of Vitamin B 12 a day improved both visual and brain-stem auditory evoked potentials by nearly 30 per cent.

The form of Vitamin B 12 used in this study was methylcobalamin - the most active form of B 12 -rather than the standard cyanocobalamin.