TheyWorkForYou email alert - Anaemia/B12 Deficiency

[Polaris]

"To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they propose to alert medical practitioners to the severe and irreversible nerve damage that can occur when pernicious anaemia is misdiagnosed."

Countess of Mar - Crossbench

theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?i...

[Gambit62 Administrator]

good to see cobalamin deficiency getting a mention but the statement is horribly confused regards B12 deficiency and pernicious anaemia - which is a long way from being the only cause of B12 deficiency and it is B12 deficiency that needs to be addressed ... and then there's whether B12 should be classified as a haematological problem ... and how confused the NICE guidelines are on that score.

Still, guess something is better than nothing.

[Polaris]

I agree but at least they're pointing out the dangers of neurological damage, which I don't think many GPs are aware of, otherwise why would they be denying treatment to so many....

[Hidihi in reply to Polaris]

indeed, i wish they would consult with the official bodies i.e. the PAS before putting pen to paper.

[wedgewood]

It's a step forward, but should include B12 deficiency, which can be caused by long-term prescription of PPIs

[Frodo]

I imagine it's because people who don't know the facts will recognise the condition by this name? And is 'B12 deficiency' a recognised medical term/illness? Also, calling it PA when it isn't an anaemia in the recognised sense could be the misdiagnosis itself.

I don't think it hits hard enough in terms of the system wide damage caused by the condition.

[oozlumbird]

I have just posted the following on TheyWorkForYou. I understand this then becomes an annotation to the question:

Please note that neurological damage is caused by B12 deficiency, and pernicious anaemia is just one of the causes of the deficiency. The guidelines state that a patient can end up with irreversible nerve damage from untreated B12 deficiency even if the most commonly used diagnostic tests are negative. The main point is that GPs need to listen to patients and treat according to symptoms, not test results.

It's not helpful to phrase this question around 'pernicious anaemia'. The wording instead should be 'B12 deficiency'.