If they don’t go to a doctor, it could be either because the problem is minor enough that they can’t be bothered, or because they generally don’t seek medical help when they are seriously unwell, in which case the risk from something like B12 deficiency is negligible compared to e.g. the risk of an untreated heart attack.
I’m personally quite bad at noticing and tracking (non-sudden) changes in my energy, mood, or cognitive ability. I think there are issues that I wouldn’t notice (or would think minor) that I would still care a lot about fixing.
Also, some people have problems with executive function. Even if they notice issues, the issues might have to be pretty bad before they’ll ask a doctor about them. Bad enough that it could be pretty valuable to prevent less bad issues (that would go untreated).
(This could be exacerbated if people are generally unexcited about seeking medical help — I think there are plenty of points on this axis where people will seek help for heart-attacks but will be pessimistic about getting help with “vaguely feeling tired lately”. Or maybe not even pessimistic. Just… not having “ask a dr” be generated as an obvious thing to try.)
there are plenty of points on this axis where people will seek help for heart-attacks but will be pessimistic about getting help with “vaguely feeling tired lately”
to note that heart attacks are on average a much more serious problem then vague fatigue, so the fact that people are more likely to see a doctor about the former is a good thing. People will generally self-select whether to seek medical help by the severity of the problem, and to the extent that they don’t veganism is probably the least of their worries.
I’m personally quite bad at noticing and tracking (non-sudden) changes in my energy, mood, or cognitive ability. I think there are issues that I wouldn’t notice (or would think minor) that I would still care a lot about fixing.
Also, some people have problems with executive function. Even if they notice issues, the issues might have to be pretty bad before they’ll ask a doctor about them. Bad enough that it could be pretty valuable to prevent less bad issues (that would go untreated).
(This could be exacerbated if people are generally unexcited about seeking medical help — I think there are plenty of points on this axis where people will seek help for heart-attacks but will be pessimistic about getting help with “vaguely feeling tired lately”. Or maybe not even pessimistic. Just… not having “ask a dr” be generated as an obvious thing to try.)
I agree with this, though I would expand
to note that heart attacks are on average a much more serious problem then vague fatigue, so the fact that people are more likely to see a doctor about the former is a good thing. People will generally self-select whether to seek medical help by the severity of the problem, and to the extent that they don’t veganism is probably the least of their worries.