Active Vitamin B12 Blood Test (£37)

Tired all the Time? Do an Active Vitamin B12 Blood Test in London (Wimbledon, SW19)

To See Our Main Blood testing section for this, please visit Haematology Blood Testing page.

So What is an Active B12 blood test?

Most NHS hospitals do a Total B12 blood test. However, there are 3 carrier proteins involved in transporting Vitamin B12 around the body.

Holotranscobalamin (Only 1 of the 3 carrier proteins binding to Vitamin B12) accounts for between 10-30% of the Vitamin B12 circulating in the blood, but is the ONLY form of Vitamin B12 that is taken up and used by the cells in the body (that is, it is bioactive). This is known as Active B12. The other 70% of Vitamin B12 in the blood is biologically inactive.

Hence, sometimes ‘conventional’ Vitamin B12 blood tests may not pick up an ‘actual’ B12 deficiency and the cause of your fatigue may continue undiagnosed.

Need more information on Active B12? Please visit the Active B12 blood test guidance page for excellent easy to read advice.

What do I do if I am found to have a deficiency in my Active Vitamin B12?

Our first suggestion would be to repeat the blood test after 1 to 3 months having ensured that your diet had plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables in it. This will eliminate a dietary cause of your Vitamin B12 deficiency and will also ensure that the result was not ‘spurious’.

You may also wish to perform the below blood tests to possibly exclude a cause of Pernicious Anaemia or Coeliac disease:

After all the above has been performed and you are found to have a persistently low Vitamin B12 level, you may want to see one of our GP’s to discuss either a private referral to a gastroenterologist or to discuss long term Vitamin B12 injections and blood monitoring.