Pernicious Anaemia

[Yasmina4]

Hi.
The vitamin was not discovered until 1946, but the actual  condition was known about and diagnosed in 1824, so we were looking for stories and diagnosis from then on.
Thanks for your reply.

My Grandma died of )PA.  She lived in Runcorn most of her life.  Then Rhyl and finally Anglesey. sandra

[Rena]

At the time I counted myself lucky to still have a mother when in the 1950s, in her 40s, she felt so uncommonly tired that she made a rare visit to the local doctor and was diagnosed as having p.a.  I haven't yet come across a death in my ancestors from that cause.

My OHs grandmother, born in the late 19th century also had p.a. in her mid 40s (between WWI and WWII) and had to eat 2 lbs of raw liver daily. ugh

[Yasmina4]

At the time I counted myself lucky to still have a mother when in the 1950s, in her 40s, she felt so uncommonly tired that she made a rare visit to the local doctor and was diagnosed as having p.a.  I haven't yet come across a death in my ancestors from that cause.

My OHs grandmother, born in the late 19th century also had p.a. in her mid 40s (between WWI and WWII) and had to eat 2 lbs of raw liver daily. ugh

I could never eat that.  sandra

[Rena]

At the time I counted myself lucky to still have a mother when in the 1950s, in her 40s, she felt so uncommonly tired that she made a rare visit to the local doctor and was diagnosed as having p.a.  I haven't yet come across a death in my ancestors from that cause.

Due to this thread I've become curious as to a possible cause of my mother's anaemia as we always had a varied weekly diet, liver always being included.    I believe that the first website on the subject that I found has given me the answer.

My mother, born in 1918, was in her 50s when she died of cancer of the gullet   At the time a hospital nurse said that this cancer was usual when her patients had had stomach ulcers  .  My mother contracted stomach ulcers in her 20s and was operated on for their removal in 1952.  Since then the Australians discovered this is due to an influenza type virus and this fact excludes my family from inheriting p.a. 

Here's the simple explanation I found of some causes of p.a.

---------
Pernicious anaemia develops when the body becomes unable to absorb vitamin B12 properly from food. Normally a protein known as intrinsic factor, which is made in the stomach, attaches to vitamin B12 and carries through the intestinal wall into the blood stream. However in pernicious anaemia, the stomach cells that produce intrinsic factor become damaged, vitamin B12 is no longer absorbed and a deficiency develops, leading to anaemia.

Such damage can occur as the result of an autoimmune disorder, where the body attacks itself. This tends to run in families and is more likely to occur if someone already has had other auto-immune diseases of the hormone glands such as thyroid disease or diabetes.

Anything that reduces the number of intrinsic factor-producing cells - for example, stomach surgery, ulcers or cancer of the stomach - may also result in deficiency.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/perniciousanaemia1.shtml

[Libbyandgwen]

Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply, lots of interesting replies.

Pernicious Anaemia is indeed the inability to absorb the Vitamin B12, regardless of the diet, and the members of my husband's Society are regularly misdiagnosed with lots of other conditions.

[Libbyandgwen]

How unusual was it to die young of P.A.....?

It is not really known about numbers of deaths in young people as, because P.A. is more common in older people, it was probably not commonly even diagnosed in young people.

However, the youngest member of our Pernicious Anaemia Society is just 11 months, with about a hundred or more other youngsters with it, (under 14 years),  so the chances are that years ago there would have been many more that may have died from it, but they were never even diagnosed.

(Also, years ago not everyone could afford doctors anyway, and the doctors that did diagnose people had no tests, they just relied on question after question which hopefully resulted in a diagnosis.)

[Rena]

Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply, lots of interesting replies.

Pernicious Anaemia is indeed the inability to absorb the Vitamin B12, regardless of the diet, and the members of my husband's Society are regularly misdiagnosed with lots of other conditions.

I meant to paste this quite common symptom into my other reply  .... "bouts of diarrhoea" ...because I certainly wouldn't have connected this to p/anaemia.

[Libbyandgwen]

Oh yes !

My husband's research shows that this was the most common indicator of P.A. in the 1940s.  It is also a symptom that his current members often say they have.

[Carmella]

Thanks for your reply & info. 
All the best with your research!
C