Pernicious anemia (or pernicious anaemia - also known as Biermer's anemia, Addison's anemia, or Addison–Biermer anemia) is a form of megaloblastic anemia due to vitamin B-12 deficiency, caused by impaired absorption of vitamin B-12 due to the immune destruction of intrinsic factor in the setting of atrophic gastritis, and more specifically of loss of gastric parietal cells.
While the term 'pernicious anemia' is sometimes also incorrectly used to ...
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Pernicious anemia (or pernicious anaemia - also known as Biermer's anemia, Addison's anemia, or Addison–Biermer anemia) is a form of megaloblastic anemia due to vitamin B-12 deficiency, caused by impaired absorption of vitamin B-12 due to the immune destruction of intrinsic factor in the setting of atrophic gastritis, and more specifically of loss of gastric parietal cells.
While the term 'pernicious anemia' is sometimes also incorrectly used to indicate megaloblastic anemia due to any cause of vitamin B12 deficiency, its proper usage refers to that caused by atrophic gastritis and parietal cell loss only. The loss of ability to absorb vitamin B-12 is the most common cause of adult vitamin B-12 deficiency.
The name of the disease comes from the historical fact that early sufferers were always detected after they were anemic (i.e., had low blood hemoglobin levels). However, with more modern tests which specifically target B-12 absorption, the disease may properly be diagnosed before...
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