The human body is a collection of nerves and organs tightly packed into a flesh suit. Despite the fairly simple description, our bodies are remarkably complex and intertwined in ways that the average person might not realize. Maintaining the human body involves introducing the required nutrients to promote the healthy development of the various components that make up our biology.
While everyone has a different body composition, making it difficult to identify a one size fits all health routine, the need for certain vitamins is an immutable part of the human experience. These vitamins ensure that our bodies remain healthy and can cope with any situation we might find ourselves in health-wise. The issue arises when these vitamins are in our systems’ concentration is lacking.
When the vitamins our bodies need are not as present as we need them to be, it opens the door for health complications. A lack of vitamins, or vitamin deficiencies, prevents the body from functioning fully. While this is a serious issue that requires correction as soon as possible, it has the potential to become a greater issue.
Vitamin deficiencies prevent your body from operating properly, which increases the likelihood of developing more severe issues the longer you suffer through them. Among these issues are nerve complications, which can make daily life a struggle. However, there are multiple ways that a vitamin deficiency can affect your nerves, and knowing about them can make all the difference.
Myeloneuropathy is likely not something you would expect to see on a list of nerve issues caused by a vitamin deficiency. This is primarily because the most well-known cause of myeloneuropathy is physical trauma to the spine. Most commonly known as myelopathy, myeloneuropathy affects the nerves along the vertebral column and can be broken down into several subtypes of neuropathy.
However, a vitamin B or E deficiency can contribute to a variation known as peripheral neuropathy. Peripheral neuropathy, as the name suggests, is a type of myeloneuropathy affecting the spinal column’s peripheral nerves. However, peripheral neuropathy is not limited to the spine and can affect any of the following nerve types:
The effects of peripheral neuropathy are far from pleasant, and a vitamin deficiency does not guarantee you will suffer the ailment. Peripheral neuropathy can be caused by multiple other issues and injuries, including autoimmune diseases, tumors, and infections. However, being deficient in certain vitamins does increase your risk of developing peripheral neuropathy.
The B and E vitamins help strengthen your body and protect your nerves, meaning a deficiency leaves you vulnerable to the plethora of symptoms that peripheral neuropathy can cause.
Vitamin B and E deficiencies can cause peripheral neuropathy to skyrocket. However, peripheral neuropathy might not be the only nerve issue that can arise from vitamin deficiencies. Some conditions are more severe than others, but peripheral neuropathy is one of the more frustrating and debilitating. Unfortunately, the neurological issues that can arise from a vitamin deficiency only get worse from here.
Multiple sclerosis is a medical condition that you might have heard of in medical horror stories. Multiple sclerosis, also known as MS, can disable your body completely as it is a disease affecting the brain. That “flesh suit” analogy left out the part where a wrinkled lump of gray matter is responsible for keeping the body going. So, when something compromises the brain, the rest of the body can quickly become a husk and unable to function properly.
While something as severe as multiple sclerosis seems like it would have a few niche causes, your vitamin levels play a role in your risk level. However, multiple sclerosis does not result from low vitamin B or E levels like peripheral neuropathy.
The people who risk multiple sclerosis due to a vitamin deficiency have low levels of vitamin D. However, this information is not reassuring since there is still no definitive answer to what causes multiple sclerosis to manifest. Multiple factors contribute to the contraction of multiple sclerosis. Vitamin D deficiencies are only one of the potential risk factors but are worthy of recognition.
Ultimately, multiple sclerosis is liable to be a fatal condition. Though you might experience brief periods of remission, the disease always reasserts itself. There is also no cure, meaning a diagnosis is a fact of life rather than information you can use to go back to life before you were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The symptoms of multiple sclerosis are no less debilitating than those associated with peripheral neuropathy.
In addition to these symptoms, other minor symptoms might manifest when you have multiple sclerosis. However, other nerve issues can arise from a vitamin deficiency. Though multiple sclerosis is likely one of the worst conditions, you are liable to contract. While you want to keep your vitamin D levels up to avoid developing multiple sclerosis, you must keep other conditions in mind.
Another severe issue that the average person might face is anemia. Unlike the previous issues, anemia relates more to the bloodstream and a lack of red blood cells. Red blood cells are responsible for providing oxygen to the blood and keeping us alive. Without red blood cells, we are liable to experience a fatal result. When you contract anemia, it means your body’s red blood cell count has plummeted, and not enough oxygen is traveling your veins.
Now, we know what you are thinking. Anemia, strictly speaking, is not a neurological issue and relates to the blood, not nerves. However, there is a greater connection between anemia and the nervous system than most people realize. Our body needs oxygen to thrive, and the development of anemia can cause our nerves to lack oxygenated blood essential to healthy functionality. If you suffer from anemia, you might also find yourself experiencing neurological issues since the body is not getting the proper resources. The general symptoms of anemia include:
Other symptoms are associated with anemia, some more severe than those listed above. However, these symptoms are more common and can often accompany additional neurological issues. The symptoms will be subtle at first but grow more severe over time.
Additionally, anemia is a disease caused by a vitamin deficiency. Specifically, anemia can result from a vitamin B12 or folate deficiency. Folates, also known as folic acid, are a subtype of vitamin B9 responsible for developing red blood cells. Like most B vitamins, folates are not naturally produced by our bodies but instead assimilated by consuming the proper foods. Given the correlation between vitamin B9 and red blood cell development, it is no surprise that there is a connection between folate deficiencies and anemia.
The longer you remain deficient in these vitamins, the worse your anemia symptoms will become. Without these essential nutrients in your system, you might also find yourself suffering from a neurological condition. When suffering from anemia, it can be common to experience the following neurological symptoms:
These are only a few issues that anemia can cause. However, the deficiency of vitamin B12 is capable of causing such symptoms on its own. They are simply more likely to manifest if you also suffer from anemia.
While vitamin D deficiencies are already linked to multiple sclerosis, the deficiency itself can impact your nerves. Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that our bodies require to develop properly. Being deficient in vitamin D is a major detriment to how effectively the human body develops and can prevent you from forming important body parts. The most common trait associated with vitamin D is how it affects the development of bones in the body.
Vitamin D plays a direct role in the healthy development of bones and ensures we can function physically. In extreme cases, weak bones lead to potential health complications such as osteomalacia or even osteoporosis. The latter is because vitamin D also affects the amount of calcium we absorb. Less calcium means our bones are weak and poorly developed, opening them up to severe complications. However, there remains the question of how a vitamin D deficiency affects our nervous system.
A vitamin D deficiency alone can induce chronic pain as the nerves around our bodies are not properly supported. The nervous system is also strained when the vitamin D levels in our bodies are too low. However, the exact correlation between vitamin D and the nervous system is not fully understood. The only certainty is that a vitamin D deficiency can cause chronic pain and neurological issues. Multiple sclerosis is only one of the many issues that can arise from a lack of vitamin D.
Some of the most common symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency, aside from contracting a neurological disease, are:
A vitamin D deficiency by itself can be a debilitating issue that leaves your body unable to function properly. The same applies to most vitamin deficiencies. The big issue with vitamin D deficiency is that it opens the door for neurological issues rather than standard physical ailments or symptoms. These deficiencies are not something that anyone can afford to ignore, making the establishment of a healthy lifestyle where such vitamins are easily introduced to your body a necessity.
The human nervous system is remarkably fragile despite its importance to our health. Our bodies require certain nutrients and vitamins for proper development, and a deficiency can have surprising consequences on our nervous system. Neurological repercussions from a vitamin deficiency might seem like a long shot, but it is similar to trying to build a house out of straw.
When the foundation is weak, it is easier for certain issues to afflict the home. The same is true for the human body, as the lack of essential vitamins weakens the body’s foundation and makes it easier for damage to form. Nerve damage is only one part of the damage the human body can experience, but it is serious enough to warrant attention.
While getting the proper vitamins into your body is important, sometimes you need treatment for the nerve pain you experience from the deficiency. This is especially true since vitamin deficiencies are not always the cause of a neurological condition that induces nerve problems. Fortunately, there are options for those seeking direct intervention for their nerve issues regardless of the underlying cause.
We at Ortho Integrative offer a wide range of physical health treatments and nutritional guidance to help revitalize your health. With licensed physicians on staff, we strive to provide high-quality treatment and service so you can live life to the fullest. So, visit our website today and take your health to the Next Level!
Do you or a loved one have any questions about any of these listed conditions or how a vitamin deficiency can lead to them? If so, please be sure to reach out and contact us at any time! Your health and the health of others are of our utmost importance, and we’d love to have a conversation with you to expand your health knowledge!
