Serum B₁₂ and Folate Concentrations in Mental Patients

¹ Physician in Psychological Medicine, National Hospital, Queen Square; Consultant Psychiatrist, Friern and Whittington Hospitals, London, N.
² Research Assistant, Friern Hospital, London, N.
³ Senior Lecturer in Haematology, Westminster Medical School, London, S.W.1
⁴ Reader in Chemical Pathology, Westminster Medical School, London, S.W.1

Serum B₁₂ was estimated in 150 patients admitted to a mental hospital unit over a period of four months.

Two patients were found to be suffering from vitamin B₁₂ deficiency syndromes, and their psychiatric illness cleared gradually when this was corrected. Neither was anaemic or exhibited signs of spinal cord involvement though one had evidence of peripheral neuropathy. They had been ill for six and eighteen months respectively before the deficiency was discovered. The patient who had been ill the longer, and who made only a partial recovery, committed suicide nine months later.

In the remaining patients serum B₁₂ concentrations were normal, with the exception of two unexplained high values.

Serum folate estimations in 75 patients showed low levels in 37, 13 of whom (35 per cent.) were consuming large amounts of alcohol and/or barbiturates, or were on an anticonvulsant regime.