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Pernicious Anemia, another term for vitamin B-12 deficiency,
is actually very common yet easily treated. Unfortunately it
cannot be prevented or "cured." Most often this condition
goes undetcted - or worse, misdiagnosed because the
symptoms are similar to many other conditions, and can
even mask those.

Let's clear up one thing before we go on. Anemia is a
blood condition and there are many different types.

Pernicious anemia is in simple terms: B-12 deficiency. Not to
be confused with probably the most common- iron
deficiency. I was diagnosed with it and I at first thought
"iron." Wrong.

Pernicious anemia occurs usually when a protein
produced in the stomach called intrinsic factor, stops or
reaches a very low level. This substance is a key element to
making B-12 work. When it's not there, the B-12 basically
does`nt get absorbed and properly utilized by the body. The
solution? One would think you could just take B-12 tablets. I
thought this too. Wrong. You could take a whole bottle of B12
tablets, and you would just be wasting your time because
without intrinsic factor, the B-12 would not make it into the
bloodstream. So the treatment is an injection, usually once
a month.

I am sharing this with you because I have this type of
anemia, and I HATE SHOTS. An 80 year old lady told me that
she had pernicious anemia too, and used what is called
sublingual, or under the tongue, liquid. I did of course check
with my doctor on this and he told me to try it and we could
check my B-12 level. I tried it and I have been taking it for
15 years now. If you do go to your local vitamin store, you
may find they don't know if they even have sublingual
vitamins. There are by the way, two types that I know of:

tablets for under the tongue, and liquid. Get the liquid. At
one time there was a nasal liquid, but our FDA claimed that
the dosage was so high, that it would be classified as a
drug. Funny because there is no known toxic level of B-12
because it is water soluable.

Learn more about this author, Mark Stafford.
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