Vitamin deficiency anemia is a lack of healthy red blood cells caused by lower than usual amounts of vitamin B-12 and folate.
This can happen if you don’t eat enough foods containing vitamin B-12 and folate, or if your body has trouble absorbing or processing these vitamins. Without these nutrients, the body produces red blood cells that are too large and don’t work properly. This reduces their ability to carry oxygen. Symptoms can include fatigue, shortness of breath and dizziness. Vitamin supplements, taken by pill or injection, can correct the deficiencies. Vitamin deficiency anemia usually develops slowly over several months to years. Signs and symptoms may be subtle at first but usually increase as the deficiency worsens.
Vitamin deficiency anemia can occur if you don’t eat enough foods containing vitamin B-12 and folate, or if your body has trouble absorbing or processing these vitamins. Low levels of vitamin B-12 can be caused by:
Diet. Vitamin B-12 is mainly found in meat, eggs and milk, so people who don’t eat these types of foods may need to take B-12 supplements. Some foods have been fortified with B-12, including some breakfast cereals and some nutritional yeast products.Pernicious anemia. This condition occurs when the body’s immune system attacks cells in the stomach that produce a substance called intrinsic factor. Without this substance, B-12 can’t be absorbed in the intestines.Gastric surgeries. If portions of your stomach or intestines have been surgically removed, that can reduce the amount of intrinsic factor produced and the amount of space available for vitamin B-12 to be absorbed. Intestinal problems. Crohn’s disease and celiac disease can interfere with absorption of vitamin B-12, as can tapeworms that may be ingested from eating contaminated fish.
Also known as vitamin B-9, folate is a nutrient found mainly in dark green leafy vegetables and liver. A folate deficiency can occur when people don’t eat foods containing folate or their bodies are unable to absorb folate from food. Absorption problems may be caused by:Intestinal diseases such as celiac disease,Surgical removal or bypass of a large part of the intestine, Excessive alcohol consumption and Prescription drugs, such as some anti-seizure medications. Pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding have an increased demand for folate, as do people undergoing dialysis for kidney disease.
A lack of folate can cause birth defects during pregnancy. However, folate deficiency is less common now in countries that routinely add folate to food products such as breads, cereals and pasta.
