The efficacy was particularly highlighted when looking at the marked improvement in serum vitamin B12 levels and hematological parameters , for example hemoglobin level , mean erythrocyte cell volume and reticulocyte count .
Oral cobalamin treatment avoids the discomfort , inconvenience and cost of monthly injections .
TAKE HOME MESSAGE Our experience and the present analysis support the use of oral cobalamin therapy in clinical practice
IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD Cobalamin ( vitamin B12 ) deficiency is particularly common in the elderly ( > 15 % ) .
Management of cobalamin deficiency with cobalamin injections is well codified at present , but new routes of cobalamin administration ( oral and nasal ) are being studied , especially oral cobalamin therapy for food-cobalamin malabsorption .
AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW The objective of this review is to evaluate the efficacy of oral cobalamin treatment in elderly patients .
Oral cobalamin remains medicine's best kept secret.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in order to describe the use of oral cobalamin among geriatricians , hematologists , and general practitioners , and to explore factors related to its use . The study population consisted of all geriatricians ( n = 138 ) and hematologists ( n = 317 ) listed in the Canadian Medical Directory plus a r and om sample of 307 general practitioners . The overall response rate was 40 % . Intramuscular and oral cobalamin was prescribed by 76 and 32 % of the respondents , respectively . Twenty seven percent reported using both  oral and intramuscular cobalamin  and 6 % reported using only oral cobalamin . Only 25 % of respondents indicated they were aware of a RCT demonstrating the efficacy of oral cobalamin prior to reading a synopsis of the study in the survey . After multivariate adjustment , only the belief that oral cobalamin was effective and certainty about who carried oral preparations remained independently associated with oral cobalamin use . Oral cobalamin has been shown to be an efficacious , cost efficient and safe method of treating cobalamin deficiency . Nonetheless , it is not used by the majority of physicians treating this condition . Strategies to promote the use of oral cobalamin should be directed at educating physicians of its efficacy and providing them with prescribing information on where it can be purchased
The efficacy was particularly highlighted when looking at the marked improvement in serum vitamin B12 levels and hematological parameters , for example hemoglobin level , mean erythrocyte cell volume and reticulocyte count .
Oral cobalamin treatment avoids the discomfort , inconvenience and cost of monthly injections .
TAKE HOME MESSAGE Our experience and the present analysis support the use of oral cobalamin therapy in clinical practice
IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD Cobalamin ( vitamin B12 ) deficiency is particularly common in the elderly ( > 15 % ) .
Management of cobalamin deficiency with cobalamin injections is well codified at present , but new routes of cobalamin administration ( oral and nasal ) are being studied , especially oral cobalamin therapy for food-cobalamin malabsorption .
AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW The objective of this review is to evaluate the efficacy of oral cobalamin treatment in elderly patients .