Neuropsychiatric and neurological problems among Vitamin B12 deficient young vegetarians

Article Figures & Data

Table 1

Comparison of variables in vegetarians and omnivores groups.

Table 2

Gender-wise comparison of normal and low levels of serum vitamin B12 and folic acid and normal and higher levels of MMA.

Variables	Male n=149 G-I n=77, G-II n=72	Female n=51 G-I n=23, G-II n=28	Total n=200
*B12 (<200pg/ml)*
G-I	37 (48.1)^*^{^†}	14 (60.9)^{^α}	51 (51)^{^∞}
G-II	03 (4.2)	0 (0)^{^‡}	03 (3)
*B12 (>200pg/ml)*
G-I	40 (51.9)^*^{^†}	9 (39.1)^{^α}	49 (49)^{^∞}
G-II	69 (95.8)	28 (100)^{^‡}	97 (97)
*Folate <3nmol/L)*
G-I	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)
G-II	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)
*Folate (>3nmol/L)*
G-II	100 (100)	100 (100)	100 (100)
G-II	100 (100)	100 (100)	100 (100)
*MMA (100-271nmol/L)*
G-I	44 (57.1)^*^{^†}	12 (52.2)^{^α}	56 (56)^{^∞}
G-II	72 (100)	28(100)^{^‡}	100 (100)
*MMA (>271nmol/L)*
G-I	33 (42.9)	11(47.9)^{^α}	44 (44)^{^∞}
G-II	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)

MMA - Methylmalonic acid, G-I - group I (Vegetarian), G-II - group II (Omnivores), N - Number of subjects, % - Percentage,
↵* p<0.001 when male vegetarians’ compared with male omnivores,
↵α p<0.001 when female vegetarians’ compared with female omnivores,
↵† p<0.001 when male vegetarians’ compared with female vegetarians’,
↵‡ p=0.13 non-significant when male omnivores compared with female omnivores,
↵∞ p<0.001 when total vegetarians’ compared with total omnivores

Table 3

Comparison of neurologic and psychiatric problems between vegetarians and omnivores.

Neurologic and psychiatric problems	Vegetarians	Omnivores	P-value
Neurologic and psychiatric problems	n (%)		P-value
Paresthesias	11 (11)	3 (3)	0.04
Peripheral neuropathy	09 (09)	2 (2)	0.05
Personality change	05 (05)	1 (1)	0.21
Mild memory impairment	07 (07)	2 (2)	0.17
Depression	31 (31)	12 (12)	< 0.002
Psychosis	11 (11)	03 (3)	0.04
Total	74 (74)	23 (23)	<0.001