Hello, all about folic acid, also known as vitamin B9. What is it for? What are the symptoms of folic acid deficiency and also excess?
too much can cause symptoms so be careful. Where is it found? What foods?
Why does disability happen? What is the role of folic acid in our body? Also what is the role in pregnancy?
If you stay until the end of this video I will explain to you the main difference between folic acid deficiency and other vitamins like vitamin B12 there is how to differentiate. Well, I'm going to set a goal for this video 2,000 likes so help me is a bold goal Let's hit this goal forever YouTube understands this as a relevant video and distributes the content there are millions of people who have disabilities and need to have access to this content I put a lot of scientific stuff here so you can learn and also seek medical help if you have these symptoms what is folic acid for bone marrow I managed to produce red cells the red blood cells in our blood are essential for the body I managed to function to be oxygenated and others nutrients also participate in this formation help the marrow to produce red cells among them: Vitamin B12, vitamin B6 and iron so folic acid deficiency will cause a type of anemia called megaloblastic anemia, in which the red blood cells become large in our red cells blood become large as well as vitamin B12 deficiency which will also lead to megalobla anemia stica further what to teach to differentiate. Folic acid also serves to help our central nervous system function to maintain our cognitive functions, for example, and in pregnancy, in the baby, in the embryo and in the fetus, it serves to form the neural tube, the neural tube that will give rise to the nervous system .
central, so during pregnancy, which is a period of greater consumption of folic acid, women need a more abundant source and that is why gynecologists and obstetricians usually choose to supplement during pregnancy precisely to assist in the formation of the neural tube that will be the central nervous system. , folic acid is inactive form actually folic acid refers to vitamin in synthetic form natural form is folate, so both folic acid and folate are vitamin in inactive form to activate folic acid the body needs to an enzyme needs to transform it into folic acid or folate into methylfolate, methylfolate which is the active form that really has our body's function so very important this There are a lot s patients who have normal levels but they cannot convert if they have a genetic mutation that the body cannot convert folate to methylfolate in the active form. This is one of the causes of disability, so what are the other causes?
If patient does not have adequate folate intake of folic acid What foods is folic acid present in? Spinach, orange fruits vegetables another great source of folic acid is the liver I don't like to eat liver very much, but for those who like it, know that it is a great source of folic acid either you don't eat it properly you don't have a balanced diet or you don't absorbs you can be some intestinal disease a celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease crohn's disease and can impair absorption does not mean that if you have any disease you will have a deficiency, but it impairs the absorption of Vitamin B9, alcoholism, who drinks a lot of alcohol you will also have an impairment in the absorption of folic acid medications such as methotrexate, trimethoprim which is an antibiotic will also compete with folic acid and will decrease the conversion and methylfolate which the active form, phenytoin medications "timers" such as Omeprazole Pantoprazole and esomeprazole to other medications that also act on stomach acidity with Ranitidine cimetidine all these medications should not be suspended just for this video by the am or de Deus do not stop any medication on your own this can only be evaluated after medical consultation but these medications are known and they can cause folic acid deficiency and the third form of deficiency is because you are going through a situation that has an increased need and consumption of folic acid absorption also the main example is pregnancy, in pregnancy due to the formation of the baby the woman needs more nutrients and what are the symptoms of folic acid deficiency? I'll talk about excess too but I'll start with the symptoms of deficiency.
So the main ones will be due to anemia what would it be if symptoms resulting from anemia? Pallor, shortness of breath, also called medical language as dyspnea, you have shortness of breath, tiredness, that fatigue makes it difficult to carry out daily activities because the cells that oxygenate the blood are already reduced you have anemia you have alterations in the erythrocytes will have changes in hemoglobin and hematocrit this causes damage to our health also that more can have change in taste, decrease in appetite and can change the shape of the tongue it can increase in size in the so-called macroglossia, also change in taste buds also causing the reduced appetite weight loss weight loss and manifestations of the central nervous system which they would be forgetfulness, including can lead to dementia, changes in cognition, focus on focus irritability and even depression in folic acid deficiency different for vitamin B12 deficiency too can give these symptoms in this type of deficiency it usually happens first anemia is the first first you will have those initial symptoms that I mentioned and then the cognitive symptoms, This is a rule, just like every rule, there will be an exception the stock of folic acid and it is not very large and it can be consumed in a few days if you have it Irregular eating you have any changes in the diet making a very restrictive diet for example the deficiency may appear in a few days, another difference is the B12 deficiency which usually takes a longer time for you to see the deficiency what are the symptoms of excess folic acid excess can also be harmful to our body so here is a warning for those who do supplementation without medical supervision if accompanied by a nutritionist that you can have consequences such as intestinal changes diarrhea that can change the absorption of other vitamins, intestinal bloating that feeling that the belly is bloated, folic acid can build up in the liver causing itchiness, skin changes and can cause inflammation. Refer also to zinc absorption in addition to the other nutrients, so too much folic acid can also have consequences.
The folic acid test is not indicated for everyone because it measures only folic acid, it does not measure methylfolate, which is actually the active form, so if you have a deficiency in this enzyme of dihydrofolate reductase, you will not be diagnosed by the tests, for that reason folic acid test , so the test is not for everyone, it must be individualized, for patients who have symptoms, who have anemia or who are in the very important risk group I said I was going to say the main difference between vitamin B12 deficiency which can also give symptoms and folic acid deficiency, one of them I already said in the middle of the video is that usually the symptoms of folic acid deficiency start with symptoms of anemia and then start with cognitive symptoms and there's another clue is that the homocysteine as well as B12 can rise, but the other marker that methylmalonic acid will be normal other than vitamin B12 deficiency it will be increasing, so this is another factor There is a way to differentiate and there are genetic tests that in selected cases are also indicated, in pregnant women, if you are pregnant and are supplementing folic acid, the active form methylfolate, there is also no indication because regardless of the result you will have to supplement, another Folic acid, in addition to what I said, if it is not done fasting, it can also give an overestimated result, the result is greater than the reality, so the test should be done fasting. Don't forget to activate the notification bell, click on the bell and mark all notifications whenever I post something YouTube will let you know you don't miss any content, so activate the bell and now I will leave a suggestion for you and it's a video about vitamin B12, if you click here you will see it, if you have any questions, put them in the comments and I always answer, big hug!