Do you know your blood level testing results?
People who do not methylate will have high MMA, and high homocysteine.
If you were in the outdated "normals" below 400 and above 180, you are actually LOW by the standards today.
Here is a medical site that is readable by laypersons:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0301/p979.html
The United States is behind many other countries in this regard. Many doctors have not updated their CME on this topic.
There is a concern now developing and that is in the literature about folate vs folic acid. Folic acid is inactive and is thought to compete at the BBB for the passage of natural methylated folate there for movement into the brain. In the US many foods are now fortified with folic acid...but for non methylators, this is useless.
I would like to ask you to expand on the statement:
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And it turns out that "treatment" with methylcobalamin & methyfolate can actually cause problems.
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Both methylfolate and methylcobalamin are available OTC in the US now. Many of us at the PN forum keep our B12 testing levels at or above 1000. There is no upper limit of safety set by the FDA or any other agency on B12. But it is important that folic acid not be taken without first fixing B12 if low. That is the only warning I am aware of at this time.
And @ olsen: The reference I use for drug induced nutrient depletions, by Pellon and LaValle, 2001 2nd ed. does not list
B12 or folate for levodopa. Only SAMe and potassium are mentioned. So if you are finding information on this process, it must be "newer" than 2001. The whole subject is quite complex, and one would expect new information to supercede the previously published data.
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Originally Posted by Peony
I found out from a discussion thread on 23andme that my test data results indicated that I was "compound heterozygous" for the MTHFR mutation. I hoped this might explain some health issues & possibly treatment might help. But it quickly became obvious that the science is apparently not yet there to truly determine adequate levels of B12 or folate, nor how to treat if there actually is a deficiency. Just a lot of theories & opinions, some of dubious origin & validity. I got my B12, folate, & homocysteine levels tested & results showed more than adequate levels, but then the self-proclaimed experts claimed that didn't really mean anything. And it turns out that "treatment" with methylcobalamin & methyfolate can actually cause problems. Nearly impossible to find an MD who will recognize & treat. May be something to it, but scientific proof just not there yet, and it's not a condition supported by 23andMe research reports due to inadequate evidence. I gave up trying to figure out exactly what I should do, as nobody really seemed to know.
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All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.-- Galileo Galilei
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Weezie looking at petunias 8.25.2017
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