What is pernicious anaemia?
Answers
Answer:
A decrease in red blood cells when the body can't absorb enough vitamin B12.
Common causes include a weakened stomach lining or an auto-immune condition.
Answer:
Explanation:
The term “pernicious anemia” is an anachronism—it dates from the era when treatment had not yet been discovered, and the disease was fatal—but it remains in use for megaloblastic anemia resulting from vitamin B12 deficiency due to lack of intrinsic factor (IF). [1] Impaired IF production can occur in adults due to autoimmune destruction of parietal cells, which secrete IF. Gastrectomy can significantly reduce the production of IF. A rare congenital autosomal recessive disorder can result in deficiency of IF without gastric atrophy.
Several conditions other than impaired Intrinsic Factor production can cause a megaloblastic anemia such as: folic acid deficiency, altered pH in the small intestine, and lack of absorption of B12 complexes in the terminal ileum. Thus, pernicious anemia must be differentiated from other disorders that interfere with the absorption and metabolism of vitamin B-12 (see DDx and Workup)