Madeleine Moon MP writes for ePolitix.com about tonight's adjournment debate on pernicious anaemia. Skip related content
Pernicious anaemia is caused by low levels of Vitamin B12. This vitamin is vital for the manufacture of new red blood cells.
When it is in short supply, red blood cells are produced in smaller numbers, are abnormally large in size (megaloblastic) and don't last as long as they should. Consequently, anaemia develops. B12 deficiency can also result in nerve damage.
I have been working with the Pernicious Anaemia Society, which is based in my constituency, to highlight ongoing issues relating to the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.
Pernicious anaemia is very difficult to diagnose as it shares symptoms with a variety of other conditions. Late diagnosis is a problem for sufferers as much nerve damage can occur before the disease is diagnosed.
Pernicious anaemia does not have a robust and trustworthy diagnostic tool, which could be used by medical professionals to arrive at a quick and accurate diagnosis of the condition.
The Pernicious Anaemia Society would like to see an education campaign for GPs, ensuring that they are fully informed about this disease and are campaigning for more research to be carried out into this surprisingly common condition.
There are also concerns about the current treatment regime for pernicious anaemia. The condition is treated through a course of injections of vitamin B12 comprising of a 'loading stage' followed by one injection every three months for the rest of the patient's life.
However, many sufferers have argued that this treatment is inadequate and feel they need injections on a far more regular basis. In the 1960s the treatment was one intramuscular injection every month.
That changed to every two months in the 1970s and every three months in the 1980s.
The Pernicious Anaemia Society cannot find any evidence that these changes to the prescription were related to new clinical research.
Currently, many sufferers are refused top-up injections of B12 and many are offered anti-depressants instead of this harmless vitamin. Consequently many people are forced to buy infusions over the internet, travel abroad or turn to the private sector for help.
In the Adjournment Debate I will be calling for a review of the diseases symptoms, diagnoses and treatment and the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the current treatment regime.
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