Essays on Pernicious Anemia

One of the notable aspects that the patient should understand is that pernicious anemia is a nutritional disorder which then implies that they can play a key role to its management. The illness is primarily caused by the malabsorption of vitamin B12 coupled attributed to the severe deficiency of intrinsic factor (IF) (Annibale, Lahner, & Delle Fave, 2011). If the patient is essentially a vegetarian or does not usually use foods such as eggs, meat or milk, there is an elevated risk for development of pernicious anemia or colabamin deficiency. If the patient cannot change their dietary habits to help ...

Introduction

Pernicious anemia refers to a health condition that is associated with a deficiency in vitamin B12 due to its poor absorption in the intestines whereby this results to a reduction in the RBCs (red blood cells). Typically, the condition occurs as a result of inadequate production of IF (Intrinsic Factor) in the stomach whereby this leads to poor absorption of vitamin B12 (Bizzaro & Antico, 2014). Among the main symptoms associated with the disease include; fatigue, diarrhea, breathing difficulties, pale skin as well as tingling and numbness in the feet and hands. In reference to the case study, it is ...

DHEA:

Dehydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA, is a hormone the human body produces via the adrenal glands, which are above the kidneys. The exact effect of DHEA is not yet fully identified; however, it is believed to be a precursor of the female and male sex hormones, namely estrogen and testosterone, among others. Precursors are substances that the body converts into hormones.

The production of DHEA usually reaches its peak around the mid-20s and declines ever after. The same applies to estrogen and testosterone, whose production also declines with age. For that reason, if an individual wants to increase their hormone levels, it ...

Background

Pernicious Anemia (PA) is a chronic illness that is caused by impaired absorption of vitamin B-12 due to lack of (IF) intrinsic factor in gastric secretions. It is a condition in which the body lacks a sufficient number of red blood cells (hemoglobin). Present within red blood cells, hemoglobin is important for carrying oxygen in all body tissues. Pernicious anemia is therefore a decrease in red blood cells which occurs when one’s intestines cannot absorb vitamin B12 properly. The body needs vitamin B12 to make red blood cells. Pernicious anemia is most prevalent in Caucasian people of northern European lineage than in ...

The patient has been experiencing symptoms of gastritis including loss of appetite and substernal pain which worsens in the morning. The fact that he has been experiencing the pain for about five months suggests that this is a case of chronic gastritis. The clinical definition of gastritis is inflammation of gastric mucosa (Rugge, & Garaham, 2010). The long term alcohol consumption of 12-16 cans of beer per day has been causing inflammatory degeneration in the gastric mucosa of the patient (Bienia, Sodolski, &Luchowska, 2002). However many studies have demonstrated that alcohol is associated with acute, not chronic gastritis. It is possible ...

Nursing: Pernicious Anemia.

Reply post With reference to the information you gathered from a 2012 census over 48 million Americans do not have health insurance (DeNavas-Walt et.al, 2011) and this deters many people from visiting a physician because health care is very costly. However, as you correctly reiterated that if people suffering from pernicious anemia remain untreated overtime, a vitamin B12 deficiency can slowly begin to affect the sensory and motor nerves of the body. Serious debilitating complications can occur. Present comparative life expectancy rates reveal that United States of America has the lowest among developed nations. Further, reports have been that this country ...

Essay on vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is a nutrient playing an important role in the manufacturing of blood cells and maintaining a healthy nervous system. The nutrient is involved in many processes like methyl transfer, nucleic acid metabolism, and acid myelin synthesis and repair. It is found in products like meat, eggs, shellfish, milk, and cheese (Johnson, 2012).

The discovery of vitamin B12 occurred in several phases for about 100 years. Pernicious anemia, as it is called today, was first described by Thomas Addison in the mid-19th century (Whitby, 1955). Several years later, researchers Minot and Murphy demonstrated liver or liver extracts to be the ...