Format: Paperback Verified Purchase. This is an awesome book, Just what I needed for my class to read. I am doing a unit on biomes and this book hits the spot. It is informative and gives just the tight amount of information without being overbearing for the students in my class.
Pernicious anemia is a rare blood disorder characterized by the inability of the body to properly utilize vitamin B12, which is essential for the development of red blood cells. Most cases result from the lack of the gastric protein known as intrinsic factor, without which vitamin B12 cannot be absorbed.
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.