Can teenagers have pernicious anemia?
A teenager was admitted with an iron-deficiency anemia. The gastroscopy found an atrophic body gastritis, which revealed a pernicious anemia. This diagnosis is rare in paediatric patients, the frequency of pernicious anemia increasing with age.
What is the difference between pernicious anemia and anemia?
Anemia is a condition in which the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells. Red blood cells provide oxygen to body tissues. There are many types of anemia. Pernicious anemia is a decrease in red blood cells that occurs when the intestines cannot properly absorb vitamin B12.
What is pernicious anemia Wikipedia?
Pernicious anemia is a type of vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, a disease in which not enough red blood cells are produced due to the malabsorption of vitamin B12.
What are the signs of pernicious Anaemia?
Symptoms of pernicious anemia may include fatigue, shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, jaundice or pallor, tingling and numbness of hands and feet, loss of appetite, diarrhea, unsteadiness when walking, bleeding gums, impaired sense of smell, and confusion.
What causes low B12 in kids?
Etiology. Vitamin B12 deficiency can result from decreased dietary intake, impaired absorption (e.g., intrinsic factor deficiency) and malabsorption (e.g., due to chronic gastritis or bacterial overgrowth). Breastfed infants of vegan mothers are also at risk.
Can kids have pernicious anemia?
Some children with pernicious anemia do not have symptoms, or they may be mild. Common symptoms of the condition include: pale skin, lips, and hands. decreased appetite.
What is the main cause of pernicious anemia?
While vitamin B12 deficiency anemia may be caused by a lack of vitamin B12 in the diet, pernicious anemia is caused by an inability to absorb vitamin B12.
Who is most at risk for pernicious anemia?
Pernicious anemia is more common in people of Northern European and African descent than in other ethnic groups. Older people also are at higher risk for the condition. This is mainly due to a lack of stomach acid and intrinsic factor, which prevents the small intestine from absorbing vitamin B12.
What deficiency causes pernicious anemia?
Pernicious anaemia is the most common cause of vitamin B12 deficiency in the UK. Pernicious anaemia is an autoimmune condition that affects your stomach. An autoimmune condition means your immune system, the body’s natural defence system that protects against illness and infection, attacks your body’s healthy cells.
How common is B12 deficiency in kids?
The prevalence of low B12 was 17% overall, including 12% of children aged under 14 yrs (low B12 defined as total serum B12 <150 pmol/L) Only 4.6% of those with low B12 had macrocytosis, and none of the cohort had folate deficiency.
What is the normal B12 level for kids?
Normal values are 160 to 950 picograms per milliliter (pg/mL), or 118 to 701 picomoles per liter (pmol/L).
At what age can you get pernicious anemia?
In adults, symptoms of pernicious anemia are usually not seen until after age 30. The average age of diagnosis is age 60. You are more likely to develop this disease if you: Are Scandinavian or Northern European.
Can pernicious anaemia be cured?
Pernicious anemia can’t be cured, but increasing your vitamin B12 intake may eliminate most symptoms. The neurologic complications of pernicious anemia, however, can persist even after B12 stores are fully replaced.
Is pernicious anemia serious?
Pernicious anemia, one of the causes of vitamin B12 deficiency, is an autoimmune condition that prevents your body from absorbing vitamin B12. Left untreated, pernicious anemia can cause serious medical issues, including irreversible damage to your nervous system.
Can pernicious anemia be cured?
Can children get B12 injections?
In the event of (serious) symptoms immediate treatment with vitamin B12 injections is necessary to prevent permanent damage. Children with metabolic disorders and lack of B12 binding proteins often require high doses of vitamin B12, as well as additional forms of treatment.
How do you increase B12 in kids?
Although the best food sources of vitamin B12 are clams and beef liver, other sources include fish, meat, poultry, shellfish, eggs, milk and dairy.
What causes vitamin B12 deficiency in kids?
Can you live a normal life with pernicious anemia?
With proper treatment, people who have pernicious anemia can recover, feel well, and live normal lives. If you have complications of pernicious anemia, such as nerve damage, early treatment may help reverse the damage.
How common is B12 deficiency in children?
Why would a child need a B12 shot?
Can you give vitamin B12 to children?
Yes – kids can take Vitamin B12, and they likely should be taking it! Vitamin B12 is perfectly safe for kids and is vital for their bones, blood, eyes, mood, hair, skin, and nails.
Is vitamin B12 deficiency common in kids?
How prevalent is a deficiency in children? An investigation of the B12 values in 3766 children from the age of 4 days to 19 years5, showed that 3 children had a value below 74 pmol/L, a frequency of 1 in 1255 and 18 children had a value below 148pmol/L, a frequency of 1 in 200.
How do you treat B12 deficiency in children?
The treatment depends on the cause of the deficiency. If the deficiency is mild and asymptomatic, a diet adjustment or the removal of the underlying cause plus a good supplement may be sufficient. In most cases however, the cause cannot be removed and permanent treatment with vitamin B12 injections will be necessary.
What does B12 do for kids?
Vitamin B12 is important for central nervous system function, forming red blood cells and turning the food that you eat into energy. We also need vitamin B12 to form DNA(1) and RNA so that we can make new cells and grow, and for the normal function of the immune system(2).