Vitamin B₁₂ presses “pause” on peripheral neuropathy Original paper

Peripheral neuropathy is caused by nerve damage and often manifests as pain, weakness, or numbness in the hands and feet. Supplementing with vitamin B12 — even in the absence of deficiency — may have therapeutic benefits.

It was a systematic review of 24 articles that covered B₁₂ as a solo or adjunct therapy for neuropathic pain.

The strongest evidence was for B₁₂ as a treatment for postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), a common complication of shingles. There was weaker evidence for its use in treating alcohol-related neuropathy and diabetic neuropathy.

The authors noted they could not conduct a meta-analysis because the included studies were “too heterogeneous in numerous regards including therapy doses, regimens and route of administration, means of assessing pain, and variety of neuropathic conditions assessed. In addition, many studies used combination regimens often with gabapentinoids and other B vitamins which decreases the certainty with which B₁₂ itself can be assessed.”