Pernicious anemia

Pernicious anemia or pernicious anemia is a rare progressive blood disease characterized by a decrease in hemoglobin in the blood below 70 g/l and the development of pronounced signs of hypoxia (oxygen starvation) of tissues. One of the main reasons for the development of Addisonian anemia is a genetically determined deficiency of vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin), the production of which occurs in humans only by special types of intestinal microbes. Most scientists believe that the appearance of Addison's anemia is influenced by nutritional disorders and other internal organs that affect the intestines, since with anemia of such diseases absorption is impaired

Pernicious anemia (Latin anae mia [involution] from the Greek ἀναιμία “no blood” from the ancient Greek αἷμα [aima], αἱμά “blood”; English Pernicious Anaemia; Latin pěrnicosus “disastrous”; also Addison’s anemia) - a chronic form of iron deficiency that develops as a result of a deficiency of vitamin B12 in the body. The disease is characterized by a two-phase clinical course: moderate and severe anemia, respectively. The development of anemia is associated with insufficient regeneration of hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow.

B12 deficiency causes two effects: impaired production of homocysteine, which can lead to the appearance of blood vessels that block blood flow within vital organs; and a decrease in hemoglobin in red blood cells. These effects are the main features of pernicious anemia, but there are no microscopic abnormalities in the peripheral blood. When excluding the influence of all other factors, anemia is observed in all patients with pernicious disease. Anemia is detected within a month after the onset of the normal stage of the disease, in contrast to iron deficiency anemia, in which it appears only after 3-6 months.

The diagnosis is made on the basis of characteristic clinical signs,