Vitamin B12 levels and neurological findings in three villages in Canakkale region, Turkey

The aim of this study is to determine the vitamin B12 levels in adults living in three villages in the Canakkale region, western part of Turkey.
Some study result show that concentration of Al in water around Kirazli region is extremely high.Therefore the neurotoxic effect of Al was investigated in this area.The vitamin B12, folic acid and TSH levels were measured to differentiate between neuropathy and cognitive involvement.The result shows that vitamin B12 level to be normal in only 12.2% of the people who live in Kirazli. Also, the results of the vitamin B12 were evaluated detail.
Kirazli, Ciplak and Halileli villages were selected for this study.Total 273 people who are over 18 years old and live in villages were chosen.The survey form containing questions on descriptive characteristics and the Mini Mental State Examination(MMSE) was administered by Medical and Engineering Faculty members with the face-to-face interview technique.A neurological examination was performed by the Neurology specialist at the second stage.A 10 ml venous blood sample was obtained at the third stage to evaluate the serum Al, vitamin B12, folic acid and TSH parameters(third generation).SPSS 11.0 statistical software was used for evaluation data.
The result shows that the average age of the study group was 51.6±16.3.The vitamin B12 level was 200 pg/ml or less in 44.8%, 200–349 pg/ml in 43.0% and 350 pg/ml or higher in 12.2% of those investigated.There was no statistically significant difference for vitamin B12 level and folic acid level, short mental examination score, and presence of neuropathy in the history or physical examination(p>0.05).
Although this study group was small, the high level of vitamin B12 deficiency was seen in Canakkale region.Therefore new community-based studies should be planned for starting from the rural regions of Turkey to determine the causes and results of vitamin B12 deficiency.