Pernicious anemia

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Megaloblastic anemia - view of red blood cells

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Pernicious anemia

Alternative Names:

Macrocytic achylic anemia; Congenital pernicious anemia; Juvenile pernicious anemia; Vitamin B-12 deficiency (malabsorption)

Treatment:

Monthly vitamin B-12 injections are the definitive treatment to correct the vitamin B-12 deficiency. This therapy corrects the anemia and may correct the neurological complications if given soon enough.

Since about 1% of vitamin B-12 is absorbed (even in the absence of intrinsic factor), some doctors recommend that elderly patients with gastric atrophy take oral vitamin B-12 supplements in addition to monthly injections.

There is also a preparation of vitamin B-12 that may be given intranasally (in the nose). A well-balanced diet is essential to provide other elements such as folic acid, iron, and vitamin C for healthy blood cell development.

Expectations (prognosis):

The outcome is usually excellent with treatment.

Complications:

People with pernicious anemia may have gastric polyps and get gastric cancer and gastric carcinoid tumors twice as often than the normal population.
Persistent neurological defects may be present if treatment is delayed.
Vitamin B-12 deficiency affects the appearance of all epithelial cells, therefore an untreated woman may obtain a false positive pap smear.

Calling your health care provider:

Call your health care provider if symptoms suggestive of vitamin B-12 deficiency develop.

Review Date: 10/31/2005
Reviewed By: William Matsui, MD, Assistant Professor of Oncology, Division of Hematologic Malignancies, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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