Pernicious Anaemia...Pernicious Anemia

My daughter was diagnosed with pernicious anaemia and folic acid anaemia in 1994 when she was 27 years old. Our family doctor was very frank with us in admitting that he was not that familiar with the disease. The technology of the internet at that time was not as advanced as it is now and the only place I could find any information on this disease was at the library.

The course of treatment varies world-wide. It is not consistent and differs from the type of serum used in the B12 injections to the guidelines that are used when dispensing treatment. Most of the world uses Hydroxocobalamin B12 injectable serum. Canada and the United States use Cyanocobalamin, while Japan uses Methylcobalamin. The U.K., Ireland, Holland, Australia, New Zealand use Hydroxocobalamin. Hydroxo has a longer retention period in the system whereas anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of an injected dose of Cyanocobalamin may appear in the urine within 48 hours after the injection. Every country has a different reference value for what are accepted lower and upper reference values for B12 levels. Again inconsistencies. This is where there is a definite need for further research. Many P.A. sufferers are unaware that they can self-inject. My daughter was unaware because that fact is not promoted by the medical profession in Canada and elsewhere. Teaching P.A. patients to self-inject is a positive way of decreasing health costs.

With the discovery of B12 in the early 1950's, pernicious anaemia has become a "forgotten disease" because it is mistakenly believed that with the injection of B12, the disease is now cured. That is not true. B12 injections can only control the disease in much the same way that a person with diabetes injects insulin to control their insulin level.

Fact or Myth:
The injection of B12 cures Pernicious Anaemia.
Wrong: There is no cure for Pernicious Anaemia but with injections of B12, the disease becomes controllable, much in the same way as diabetes is not cured by insulin but becomes controllable.
Pernicious Anaemia afflicts only people over the age of 60.
Wrong: Pernicious Anaemia can develop at any time of life, particularly if another member of your family such as a parent, grandparents have also had PA.
A person with pernicious anaemia can also have other autoimmune diseases.
True: Thyroiditis can co-exist with pernicious anaemia. Folic Acid Anaemia as well as IDA, (Iron Deficiency Anaemia) can co-exist as well.