Vitamin B12 offers effective treatment for canker sore

Washington, Feb 10 (ANI): A dose of vitamin B12 every night is a simple, effective and low risk therapy to prevent Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis (RAS), better known as "canker sores", according to a new study.

The study was conducted by a team of physicians at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

"The frequency of RAS is as much as 25 percent in the general population, however, until now, there has been no optimal therapeutic approach," said lead researcher Dr. Ilia Volkov.

For the study, the researchers tested the effect of vitamin B12 on 58 randomly selected RAS patients who received either a dose of 1,000 mcg of B12 by mouth at bedtime or a placebo, and were tested monthly for six months.

At the end of the study, almost three quarters (74 percent) of the patients in the experimental group and only a third (32 percent) in the control group achieved remission.

The researchers wrote: "The average outbreak duration and the average number of ulcers per month decreased in both groups during the first four months of the trial. However, the duration of outbreaks, the number of ulcers, and the level of pain were reduced significantly at five and six months of treatment with vitamin B12, regardless of initial vitamin B12 levels in the blood."

During the last month of treatment, a significant number of participants in the intervention group reached 'no aphthous ulcers status' (74.1% vs 32.0%; P .01).

After treatment, patients expressed greater comfort, reported less pain, fewer ulcers, and shorter outbreaks during the six months.

However, among the control group the average pain level decreased during the first half of the period but increased during the second half.

The findings of the study have been reported in the latest issue of The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. (ANI)