Red blood cells take oxygen from the lungs and distribute it to all of the tissues and organs in the body. Having less red blood cells, therefore, means having less oxygen. With an abnormally low number of these blood cells, people become anemic. Vitamin B12 is needed for the development of mature blood cells and without it, people can develop pernicious anemia. Magnesium interacts with calcium, and is used to make protein and DNA.
Pernicious Anemia
The parietal cells in the lining of the stomach secrete a protein called intrinsic factor. The cells in the small intestines must have intrinsic factor to absorb vitamin B12. In people with pernicious anemia, at least 90 percent of them have antibodies against their parietal cells, according to J. Ben Davoren, M.D., Ph.D., Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California in "Pathophysiology of Disease." The antibodies destroy the parietal cells and without intrinsic factor, the small intestines cannot absorb vitamin B12 and people develop pernicious anemia.
Megaloblastic Anemia
Pernicious anemia is called an autoimmune disease because the antibodies, which are part of the immune system, attack their own cells instead of only attacking foreign substances. It is also referred to as a megaloblastic anemia, because it is an anemia where the red blood cells are abnormally large and the nucleus is not mature, writes Elizabeth Corwin, Ph.D. in "Handbook of Pathophysiology." The body uses vitamin B12 to make myelin, which the nerves use to send fast signals, and to make the DNA in the red blood cells. Without it, the nerves are abnormal and the red blood cells are immature.
Symptoms
The liver stores enough vitamin B12 to last at least several years, says The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library. The initial symptoms are mild. Eventually, people become tired, dizzy and have difficulty breathing. If they become severely anemic, the heart beats so fast trying harder to deliver oxygen, that they can develop heart failure. Without myelin for the nerves, they may have tingling, numbness and find it hard to keep their balance.
Evaluation and Treatment
The diagnosis involves a complete blood count, determining the levels of folic acid and vitamin B12. Physicians check the folic acid level because the red blood cells are large in a folic acid deficiency, and treating a vitamin B12 deficiency with folic acid allows the neurological problems to progress. People may have a Schilling test to determine they have a deficiency of intrinsic factor, as explained by The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library. Physicians prescribe vitamin B12 supplements to this disorder.
Magnesium Deficiency
Elizabeth Corwin, Ph.D. writes in "Handbook of Pathophysiology," that the body stores approximately 50 percent of its magnesium in the bones, 49 percent in the cells and one percent in the bloodstream. It uses magnesium to make protein and DNA, and to process RNA. Magnesium also attaches to calcium receptors, or proteins on a cell membrane that wait for instructions on what to do. A magnesium deficiency can result because of alcohol abuse, malnutrition, diarrhea, from taking too much calcium or too many laxatives. Physicians prescribe magnesium supplements to treat this type of deficiency.
References
- "Handbook of Pathophysiology"; Elizabeth Corwin, MSN, Ph.D., FNP; 2000
- "Pathophysiology of Disease: An Introduction to Clinical Medicine"; Stephen McPhee, M.D., Gary Hammer, M.D., Ph.D.; 2010
- The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library: Vitamin B12
- The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library: Megaloblastic Macrocytic Anemias
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