MONDAY, Dec. 23, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- During adolescence, low vitamin B12 levels are associated with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), according to a study published online Dec. 23 in Pediatrics.
Taliha Öner, M.D., from Dr. Behçet Uz Children's Hospital in Izmir, Turkey, and colleagues examined the correlation between vitamin B12 levels and POTS during adolescence. Serum vitamin B12, folic acid, and ferritin levels were assessed in 125 patients (mean age, 11.1 years; 60 percent female) reporting short-term loss of consciousness and diagnosed with vasovagal syncope, and 50 control subjects (mean age, 10.94 years; 62 percent female).
The researchers found that patients had significantly lower levels of vitamin B12 versus controls (352.75 versus 411.32 pg/mL; P < 0.001), and that a low vitamin B12 level was significantly more prevalent in the patient versus the control group (47.2 versus 18 percent; P < 0.001). Within the patient group, vitamin B12 levels were significantly lower in children with the POTS pattern than those without the POTS response (P = 0.03).
"Our study shows the association between the etiopathogenesis of POTS and the vitamin B12 deficiency-induced sympathetic nervous system-baroreceptor dysfunction," the authors write.
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