Is it likely that a person will have a deficiency in one vitamin or one mineral?
Do you mean only ONE vitamin or mineral (instead of several at the same time)? If so, here are three of the most common SOLO deficiencies I treat regularly: 1) Iron – The heavy metal of choice for red blood cell production. In the USA, iron deficiency is most commonly from blood loss instead of low ingestion. The source of the blood loss must be identified (GI bleed, heavy menses, etc.) and treated. Iron supplementation is inexpensive and well tolerated. 2) Vitamin B12 – An uncommon cause of anemia, B12 deficit is associated with malabsorption at the end of the small intestine (terminal ileum) due to a missing digestive secretion (intrinsic factor). It causes huge poorly munctioning blood cells. This is called pernicious anemia. There are other causes such as vegeterian diet without vitamin supplement and stomach surgery. B12 can be given by injections or orally. 3) Thiamine – Heavy drinkers rapidly deplete/fail to replenish thiamine. It can cause memory loss and confusion. We automati
