Red blood cells carry oxygen, an essential element for life, to every cell in your body. A decrease in the number of healthy red blood cells, called anemia, can have serious health consequences. Anemia can be an inherited condition caused by mutation in genes. Sickle cell anemia, thalassemia and Fanconi anemia are several of the most common hereditary anemias. Vitamin K helps blood clot by synthesizing proteins that form clotting factors in the blood. Vitamin K helps slow blood loss if you're having abnormal bleeding, but it won't help hereditary anemias.
Vitamin K Actions
Vitamin K, a fat-soluble vitamin found in many foods, is made in the intestine. It helps create certain blood-clotting factors made in the liver. Severe liver disease, which interferes with the formation of clotting factors, can cause vitamin K deficiency and severe bleeding.
Sickle Cell Anemia
Sickle cell anemia affects mostly people of African-American and Mediterranean descent. About one in 12 African-Americans carries the sickle cell gene, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Red blood cells are sickle-shaped rather than disc-shaped in people with sickle cell anemia, which interferes with their ability to carry oxygen. In sickle cell anemia, red blood cells live for only 10 to 20 days compared to the norm of 120 days. Because of their shape, sickled cells get stuck in small blood vessels, blocking blood flow and also carry less oxygen. Symptoms include abdominal and bone pain, fever, jaundice, fatigue, skin ulcers and vision problems. Vitamin K, which helps form new red blood cells, will not help sickle cell anemia.
Thalassemia
Hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells, carries oxygen. People with thalassemia have genetic defects that affect production of hemoglobin; their red blood cells are smaller than normal and have abnormal shapes. Thalassemia has two forms: alpha, which affects mostly people of Asian, Middle Eastern or African descent, and beta, which affects mostly people of Mediterranean descent but can also affect Asians and African Americans. Thalassemia major affects people who inherit the gene from both parents, while people with thalassemia minor inherit only one gene. Beta thalassemia major is also called Cooley's anemia. Treatment for thalassemia can include blood transfusions of normal red blood cells and folate, a type of B vitamin. Vitamin K does not help treat thalassemia.
Fanconi Anemia
Fanconi anemia is a type of aplastic anemia, meaning that the bone marrow doesn't make enough red or white blood cells or platelets. The bone marrow may make abnormal cells, which can lead to diseases such as leukemia. This occurs in 10 percent of people with the disorder, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Bone marrow or stem cell transplant are the only cures for this disease, although giving growth factors and male hormones that increase red blood cell and platelet production may help for a time. Vitamin K will not help people with Fanconi anemia.
References
- National Anemia Action Council; Hereditary Causes of Anemia; July 2009
- Linus Pauling Institute; Vitamin K; Jane Higbdon, Ph.D; May 2004
- National Center for Biotechnology Information; Sickle Cell Anemia; January 2010
- MedlinePlus; Thalassemia; Linda J. Vorvick, M.D.; January 2010
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute:What Is Fanconi Anemia?
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