Long known as the âsunshine vitaminâ because the body makes it when skin is exposed to sunlight, vitamin D might now be dubbed the âsuperstar vitamin,â judging by the amount of attention it has garnered of late from researchers and the general public.
Clinical Information Discusses physiology, pathophysiology, and general clinical aspects, as they relate to a laboratory test. Vitamin B12 deficiency can be caused by many factors, one of which is pernicious anemia, a condition resulting in deficient production of intrinsic factor in the parietal cells of the stomach. Intrinsic factor is a protein that is needed to assist in the absorption of vitamin B12 into the small intestine.
Historically, pernicious anemia (PA) was detected only after it caused symptoms and the anemia was well established, i.e., liver stores of B 12 had been depleted. The pernicious aspect of the disease â prior to the discovery of treatment â was its fatal prognosis, similar to leukemia at that time.hile the term 'pernicious anemia' is sometimes also incorrectly used to indicate megaloblastic anemia due to any cause of B 12 deficiency, its proper usage refers to that caused by atrophic gastritis, parietal cell loss, and lack of intrinsic factor only.