The case study patient was a married 57-year-old man with no history of psychiatric illness.
His filial piety was strained, so he self-managed his diet for the past five years, eating only his favorite processed foods purchased at convenience stores without considering nutritional balance. deficiency.
Four months before hospitalization, he took a leave of absence due to back pain.
Two months before admission, he felt numbness in his right hand and visited the internal medicine department of the hospital, but no abnormalities were found.
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Approximately 17 days before admission, he developed difficulty standing, incontinence, and hallucinations.
After experiencing these symptoms for two days, he visited a psychiatrist at another hospital and was diagnosed with depression.
Twelve days before admission, he was referred to a psychiatric outpatient clinic because his physical symptoms persisted and his mental symptoms “worsened,” according to the case study.
The patient’s depressive symptoms were not noticeable, but hallucinations such as lightheadedness, incontinence, and “I saw a middle-aged man” were still present.
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Blood analysis and head CT scan results were within normal limits. However, his behavior became increasingly erratic.
He was therefore referred to and admitted to a psychiatric hospital for “examination for organic disease and suspected acute and transient psychotic disorder,” the case study said.
During this time, the patient developed severe abdominal pain and black stools and was transferred to the emergency department of the university hospital (9 days after admission to the psychiatric hospital).
Blood tests showed anemia and renal dysfunction. This is important. Anemia – having fewer than normal red blood cells or an abnormally low amount of a substance called hemoglobin in each red blood cell – is the main cause of B12 deficiency.
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On the 19th hospital day, renal function, anemia, and delirium improved, and her general condition also improved.
“In our patient, the cause of vitamin B12 deficiency was thought to be a combination of reduced dietary intake due to an imbalanced diet, vitamin malabsorption due to atrophic gastritis, and enteritis.
Treatment of B12 deficiency
Most people can easily be treated with injections or tablets to replace the missing vitamins.
Good sources of vitamin B12 are:
- meat
- salmon and cod
- milk and other dairy products
- egg.
