Vitamin B12 blood test UK and Europe
Order Guidelines/Laboratory Info
- Once you have paid for the test you will receive a confirmation email
- Testing laboratory - Biolab Medical Unit are based in the West End of London and they specialize in nutritional and environmental medicine offering a wide range of tests and a test referral service (for their website please click here)
- Test kit delivery - Test kits ordered before 3pm Monday to Friday will be sent out the same day. Test kits ordered after 3pm Monday to Thursday will be sent out the following day morning time. Test kits ordered after 3pm Friday and over the course of the weekend will not be sent out till Monday morning the following week
- Sample collection/sending - The test kit is sent directly to you and it comes with instructions on how to collect the sample and with the relevant packaging for you to send the sample back to the laboratory. The blood sample needs to be collected and carried out via a phlebotomy service, at your doctor's surgery or it can be collected at Biolab's location in London. If you have not collected the sample at Biolab's location you will need to post the kit back to Biolab. Normal postal charges will apply (large letter rates UK). The blood sample will need to reach the laboratory within 2-3 days. Blood tests that are being sent internationally will need to be couriered. It is advised to send the sample at the start of the week so that the laboratory receives it during the same working week
- Please note: You can only order this test within Europe
- Refunds - Refunds are only possible if the test kit is unused and no samples have been sent to Biolab. If a refund is required then please email - orders@mindovermetal.co.uk, someone will then be in contact to process your refund
- Results - The test result is sent directly to you from mindovermetal Ltd and not from Biolab. The result is sent to the email that you provide when you place your order. Test results will come with an email from mindovermetal Ltd summarising your result reading. The test result is simple to understand and shows if you are above, below or within certain reference ranges. The turnaround time for results once the sample has reached the laboratory is 3 working days. Please make a note of the date you send the sample and if you do not receive your results within the time frame then please email orders@mindovermetal.co.uk and someone will be in contact
Description from Biolab
As vitamins go, B12 is a rather large molecule. One part of its structure is a "corrin" nucleus, which resembles the "haem" of haemoglobin. While the haem moiety in haemoglobin holds an atom of iron, in B12 the corrin group holds an atom of cobalt. In order to be true B12, cobalamin must have one of a number of attachments to the corrin group: depending on the attachment, cobalamin can be cyanocobalamin, hydroxycobalamin, aquacobalamin, nitritocobalamin, methylcobalamin, or adenosylcobalamin. Only two of these cobalamins are active as co-enzymes in the human body: methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin. Most supplemental B12 is supplied as cyanocobalamin, in which form it is stable; cyanocobalamin must be converted to methyl- or adenosylcobalamin before it is biologically active.
Deficiency states induced by poor dietary intake of B12 (i.e. vegetarian or vegan diets) take up to 20 years to manifest. However, clinical deficiencies as a consequence of abnormalities in one of the multiple steps that regulate cobalamin absorption or its enterohepatic circulation present more rapidly. Vitamin B12 deficiency is relatively common in the U.K. population and occurs in patients with autoimmune disease (pernicious anaemia), severe primary hypothyroidism and ileal disease, as well as in subjects receiving chronic therapy with antacids, proton pump inhibitors (PPI) or H2 antagonists. B12 deficiency is also seen in chronic malnutrition states, including alcoholism, while other causes include vegetarian diets, pregnancy and lactation.
The timely detection, and correction, of vitamin B12 deficiency prevents the development of macrocytic anaemia, as well as elevated homocysteine (which is a thrombotic risk factor), potentially irreversible peripheral neuropathy, memory loss and other cognitive deficits.
Deficiency states induced by poor dietary intake of B12 (i.e. vegetarian or vegan diets) take up to 20 years to manifest. However, clinical deficiencies as a consequence of abnormalities in one of the multiple steps that regulate cobalamin absorption or its enterohepatic circulation present more rapidly. Vitamin B12 deficiency is relatively common in the U.K. population and occurs in patients with autoimmune disease (pernicious anaemia), severe primary hypothyroidism and ileal disease, as well as in subjects receiving chronic therapy with antacids, proton pump inhibitors (PPI) or H2 antagonists. B12 deficiency is also seen in chronic malnutrition states, including alcoholism, while other causes include vegetarian diets, pregnancy and lactation.
The timely detection, and correction, of vitamin B12 deficiency prevents the development of macrocytic anaemia, as well as elevated homocysteine (which is a thrombotic risk factor), potentially irreversible peripheral neuropathy, memory loss and other cognitive deficits.
