Contents:
- Medical Video: What Is Megaloblastic Anemia?
- What is pernicious anemia?
- What happens to someone who has pernicious anemia?
- Is pernicious anemia dangerous?
- Other names for pernicious anemia
Medical Video: What Is Megaloblastic Anemia?
What is pernicious anemia?
Pernicious anemia is a condition when the body cannot make enough red blood cells that are healthy because of lack of vitamin B12.
Vitamin B12 is a nutrient found in several types of food. The body needs these nutrients to make healthy red blood cells and maintain the nervous system to work optimally.
The body of a pernicious anemia patient cannot absorb enough vitamin B12 from food. Because, they do not have intrinsic factors (a protein made in the stomach). This lack of protein causes the body to lack vitamin B12.
Other conditions and factors including infection, surgery, medication, and diet can also trigger vitamin B12 deficiency. Technically, the term "pernicious anemia" refers to vitamin B12 deficiency due to a lack of intrinsic factors.
This article will discuss pernicious anemia due to lack of intrinsic factors and other causes.
What happens to someone who has pernicious anemia?
The term "anemia" usually refers to a condition when the number of red blood cells in a person's blood is classified as low. In pernicious anemia, the body cannot make enough red blood cells that are healthy because of vitamin B12 deficiency.
Without enough vitamin B12, the size of red blood cells becomes abnormal and too large. These red blood cells will find it difficult to get out of the bone marrow, tissues like sponges in the bones where blood cells are made.
Because the number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells is low, you may feel tired and weak. Pernicious anemia that is not treated can damage the heart, brain, and other organs in the body.
Pernicious anemia can also cause other problems, such as nerve damage, neurological problems (such as memory loss), and digestive tract problems. People who have pernicious anemia are also at high risk for weak bones and stomach cancer.
Is pernicious anemia dangerous?
The term "pernicious" means "deadly." In the past, this condition often ended fatal because the treatment of vitamin B12 was not yet available. But nowadays, pernicious anemia is usually easily treated with pills or vitamin B12 injections.
With ongoing care and proper care, most people who have pernicious anemia can recover, feel good, and live a normal life.
Without treatment, pernicious anemia can cause serious problems in the liver, nerves, and other parts of the body. Some of these problems may be permanent.
Other names for pernicious anemia
Pernicious anemia is one of the two main types of "macrocystic" or "megaloblastic" anemia. These terms refer to anemia which causes red blood cells to be larger than normal. (The other main types of macrocystic anemia are caused by a lack of folic acid.)
In rare cases, children are born with inherited disorders that prevent their bodies from making intrinsic factors. This disorder is called congenital pernicious anemia.
Vitamin B12 deficiency is also called cobalamin deficiency and combined system disease.
