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You need vitamin B-12

(HealthDay News) -- Vitamin B-12 is an essential vitamin that's found in dairy foods and many types of meat. It plays a role in the health of your nervous system and in the production of red blood cells.

Here are the possible health consequences of a vitamin B-12 deficiency:

• dementia
• depression
• anemia
• nervous system abnormalities
• possible increased risk of heart disease and stroke, if you also have above normal levels of an amino acid called homocysteine.

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Copyright: 2009 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

First published: 10/21/2009
Last updated: 10/21/2009

Reviewed by: HealthDay, a service of ScoutNews, LLC