Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0085632 (apathy)
 4,089 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In an attempt to evaluate the possible relationship between vitamin B12 deficiency and mental disease, the blood content of vitamin B12 was investigated in 835 consecutive psychiatric patients. Low serum vitamin B12 values were found in approximately 10% of these patients, due to latent pernicious anaemia in one case, post-gastrectomy in seven cases and small intestinal resection in one case. In the remaining 72 cases vitamin B12 deficiency was probably caused by nutritional insufficiency. After correction of the dietary defect there was a spontaneous increase in serum vitamin B12 in 75% of these patients. No specific psychiatric syndrome was connected with hypovitaminosis B12, but a preponderance of arteriosclerotic dementia suggests that low serum vitamin B12 values are secondary to mental illness leading to apathy and loss of appetite. Most cases will recover without further vitamin B12 supplements. But some patients may need treatment because of severe mental and physical disabilities.
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PMID:Vitamin B12 concentrations in psychiatric patients. 42 34

Severe vitamin B(12) deficiency produces a cluster of neurological symptoms in infants, including irritability, failure to thrive, apathy, anorexia, and developmental regression, which respond remarkably rapidly to supplementation. The underlying mechanisms may involve delayed myelination or demyelination of nerves; alteration in the S-adenosylmethionine:S-adenosylhomocysteine ratio; imbalance of neurotrophic and neurotoxic cytokines; and/or accumulation of lactate in brain cells. This review summarizes the current knowledge concerning infantile vitamin B(12) deficiency, including a pooled analysis of case studies of infants born to mothers with untreated pernicious anemia or a strict vegetarian lifestyle and a discussion of the mechanisms that may underlie the manifestations of deficiency.
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PMID:Effect of vitamin B12 deficiency on neurodevelopment in infants: current knowledge and possible mechanisms. 1845 11