News from the PAS... pernicious-anaemia-society....
researchers have been examining faecal samples from PA sufferers to try to determine why some people need much more frequent injections. It seems that they’ve found a big difference in those samples from others without PA, or who survive OK on normal frequency injections.
Watch this space!
Thanks . Great news !
I thought I’d expand a bit on what I think this announcement means.
It sounds like they’ve carried out a metabolomics study. This is where you use an advanced analytical technique (normal mass spectrometry or NMR spectroscopy) to look at all the different small molecules in a sample. There will be several tens (hundreds?) of thousands of different chemicals in a faecal sample.
You take samples from many different test and control samples and you try to find differences between the two (in this case, three) different groups.
Obviously it would be impossible for a human to see small differences in the amounts of so many chemicals, so this technique wasn’t invented until the advent of very fast computers, very clever programmers and a technique called ‘Principal Component Analysis’.
So I’m guessing that they’ve analysed the faecal samples for small molecules, processed the masses of data and found there are some hits in the ‘need more B12’ group that are absent in the ‘happy with three-monthly’ and ‘not deficient’ groups.
The next step will be to figure out exactly what those chemicals are. So far they’ll have minimal information on them, but enough to get a good idea as to where, and how, to look.
After that they’ll need to try to determine just what metabolic processses would produce those chemicals and how those processes might affect B12.
Only then will they be close to coming up with some way of fixing the problem. Or of coming up with a test that would identify those who need more frequent jabs.
That's sounds like a load of poop 
Seriously though, it sounds very interesting research. Hopefully if it does show who needs more frequent injections, it will end the constant fight to get adequate treatment on the NHS. But there again.......................I won't hold my breath.
This all sounds very encouraging. I have Non specific B12 deficiency with IBS. 2 monthly injections, daily sublingual and daily Symprove probiotic with multivitamin. This may just be what I’ve been looking for.
by the way, In the last few days ͏Li͏f͏e companies have been asking for diagnosis date and treatment plan. This condition counts against you and it’s potentially a major issue if you are still waiting for your GP to accept the condition and start treatment L&G say at least 12 months required post diagnosis and treatment.
This is interesting. As somewhat relevant anecdote, I've had an injection just about every week for more than 2 years. I've retested a b12 a few times, expecting that at this rate of injection it would eventually go up past the recommended maximum level of b12 in the blood and I would need to taper down. Even if I test just few days after injection, I seem to test in the range of 700-800 B12 (up from 111 when first tested). I mean, where is it all going? Do some of us have no ability to recirculate it at all?
Hi PAS friends. Please help with my diagnosis
Research - support
Latest research by MS society on myelin repair
