An Australian man lost the ability to walk after taking 70 times the daily recommended amount of vitamin B6.
According to his daughter Alison Taylor, the 86-year-old was living on his own until a blood test showed he was deficient in vitamin B6, so doctors prescribed him a 50-milligram supplement.
Taylor told Melbourne’s ABC radio that her father had started to lose feeling in his legs. After he lost the ability to walk, he was admitted to hospital, where he was diagnosed with vitamin B6 poisoning.
Vitamin B6 is important in helping the body absorb nutrients from food, and is important for normal brain development and a healthy nervous and immune system, according to the Mayo Clinic. Contained in fish, bananas and potatoes.
However, for men over the age of 50, the daily dose of vitamin B6 was 1.7 milligrams, and taking a magnesium supplement containing 50 milligrams of vitamin B6 and consuming a breakfast cereal fortified with vitamin B6 resulted in consumed 70 grams. More than double the recommended dose.
According to Mount Sinai, taking more than 200 milligrams of vitamin B6 can cause nerve damage, including loss of sensation in the feet. The website states that “once the high dose is discontinued, he usually makes a full recovery within 6 months,” but it is still too early to tell whether older men will. is.
Vitamin B6 toxicity is rare because excess B vitamins are usually excreted from the body through urination. However, taking high doses of the vitamin over a long period of time can lead to it.
Taylor told ABC it’s not yet known if his father will make a full recovery, but he hopes physical therapy will help him move around in a wheelchair less.
An overdose of vitamins can have serious consequences. In July, a British man was hospitalized with an overdose of vitamin D, and had symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, dry mouth, ringing in the ears, and leg cramps that lasted for months.
The man reportedly started taking more than 20 over-the-counter supplements after meeting with a private nutritionist. That’s more than 200 times his amount recommended in the US.
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