Is low B12 connected to Colon/Bowel/Rectal cancer?

Hi, 

My names Arron. I'm a 24 year old male.  Normal BMI.

As the above implies, i am just wondering about the connection between vitamin b12 and the above cancers?  I recently went to my GP due to there being quite a lot of blood when I empty my bowels, both in the toilet and on the tissue; not so much incorportated within the stool.   The doctors sent me for bloods and referred me to get a colonoscopy however the wait for this is 12 weeks.  I received my blood results back today and the doctor seemed confused to my results.  She mentioned that my B12 is as low as 50 but all my other levels are fine.  She was baffled due my only deficiency being B12.   She mentioned that my Folic levels were a little bit down but nothing to be concerned with however she has referred me for further blood tests to rule out any anomolies.  

As you can imagine, I got home asap and googled the above cancers in connection to B12 and got so many different answers, I didnt know where to turn.

Please will you answer me this -

Is low B12 connected to connected to digestive cancer?

Should I be concerened?

How should I move forward?

 

Thank you in advance! :)

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  • Hi arroncraig. Welcome to the forum.

    I'm not a doctor, however I'm going break my own rule and diagnose you with the disease of HyperGoogleItis. Also known as too much Googling. 

    To answer your specific question, there is a possible link between low B12 and digestive cancer, but that is only half the story.  The risk of digestive cancer at age 24 is very low, and so all the reduced B12 might do is increase that very low risk ever so slightly.  Resulting in a risk that is still very low. If I were in your situation and at your age, I would not be unduly concerned. 

    Unfortunately, these are nuances that can be missed when consulting with that quack Dr Google, which is why most of here know when to lay off Google.  

    So, the best you can do for now is stop Googling, try to keep calm and get on with your life as normal. The doctor may well refer you for more tests, and the colonoscopy might or might not show anything useful.  I'm afraid you just have to go with the flow for now. 

  • Thank you, you have some what put my mind at ease.  I’m laying off google for time being because it is adding to the stress. Haha

     

    Thank you for taking the time to reply! :)

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