First – a word about Blood.
Technically blood is a tissue and is made up of two main parts: Blood Plasma and Blood Cells.
Plasma is the liquid suspension that the Cells float in. Plasma will also contain vitamins, clotting agents, various dissolved proteins, glucose, hormones and anti-bodies that fight infections.
The Blood Cell part of blood is made up of three types of Cells: Red Blood Cells (RBC’s) also known as Erythrocytes, White Blood Cells (WBC’s) also called Leukocytes and Platelets or Thrombocytes. The body uses Platelets to clot the blood to stop bleeding. The White Blood Cells fight infections while the Red Blood Cells carry oxygen from the lungs to wherever it is needed.
All blood cells are produced in bone marrow. In adults, only specific bones produce blood cells (the sternum, backbone, ribs and pelvis) whilst almost all the bones in the body produce blood cells in children. The process by which the body produces blood is called Haematopoiesis.
Red blood cells live for about 120 days and old cells are removed by the liver and spleen. Iron, Folate and Vitamin B12 are all needed to produce healthy RBC’s. Red Blood Cells form the largest part of blood. The percentage of RBC’s in blood is known as the Haematocrit. A normal healthy person will have 600 RBC’s to every one White Blood Cell and 40 Platelets.
The main purpose of Red Blood Cells is to carry oxygen from the lungs to cells throughout the body. Some oxygen is carried in the Plasma but a protein in the Red Blood Cell called Haemaglobin allows much larger concentration of oxygen to be carried by the RBC. Haemaglobin also makes the plasma more viscous. Red Blood Cells are able to change shape to allow them to carry the oxygen into very narrow capillaries where the exchange of oxygen takes place. Red Blood Cells have an unusual shape as they have a concave middle on each side of the cell. 33% of a Red Blood Cell is Haemaglobin. Each molecule of Haemaglobin contains four iron atoms and it is these iron atoms that give blood its red colour.
Red Blood Cells need three essential ingredients to perform their main function – the transporting of oxygen around the body. These three ingredients are:
Folate – also known as Folic Acid which is a B vitamin – Vitamin B9. Folate takes its name from the Latin Folium which means leaf so it should come as no surprise that it is found in leafy vegetables and peas and dried beans. Marmite and Vegemite also contain high concentrations of Folate as do most breakfast cereals. Folic Acid is added to bread in several countries.
The second essential ingredient for healthy red blood cells is Iron. This is found in Red Meat, Fish, Poultry, Lentils, Beans, Black-eyed Peas and in Beefy Drinks such as Bovril.
The third essential ingredient needed for healthy red blood cells is Cobalamin or Vitamin B12. This is structurally the most complex vitamin (C H88CoN14O14P), and is found naturally in Meat, Fish and Dairy products including Milk, Butter and Eggs. Strict Vegans who eat no animal products are therefore at risk of developing B12 deficiency especially if they only eat washed vegetables (there is some Vitamin B12 in soil).
B12 is extracted from these various foodstuffs in a very complex biochemical process. The B12 enters the stomach bound to proteins found in saliva. Gastric Parietal Cells release a special protein called Intrinsic Factor. The Intrinsic Factor binds itself to the B12 and this partnership (IF/B12) is then absorbed by the Ileum which is part of the stomach found in the small bowel. The B12 then plays its part in forming healthy RBC’s.
The absorption of B12 is, then, dependent on the Gastric Parietal Cells working correctly to produce the Intrinsic Factor. Without the Intrinsic Factor the B12 cannot be absorbed by the stomach. And so it may come as a surprise to discover that Pernicious Anaemia is not caused by a malfunction of blood but by a faulty digestive process. If the gastric parietal cells do not produce the Intrinsic Factor then the B12 cannot be absorbed and the Red Blood Cells will not be able to do their job properly. This is why some people who have undergone serious stomach surgery will develop Pernicious Anaemia.
However, the number of people suffering from Pernicious Anaemia because the parietal cells do not produce Intrinsic Factor is a very small percentage of people who have the condition. This is because most sufferers of Pernicious Anaemia have a correctly functioning digestive system that produces the Intrinsic Factor necessary to bind with the B12 that can then go on to being absorbed into the blood supply. The problem faced by patients of Pernicious Anaemia is that as well as producing the needed Intrinsic Factor, somehow, and for an unknown reason, they also produce something that ‘kills off’ the Intrinsic Factor. These people produce something called Intrinsic Factor Antibodies that destroy the Intrinsic Factor that they have produced. This is why one of the tests used to diagnose Pernicious Anaemia is the test for Intrinsic Factor Antibodies – the Intrinsic Factor Antibody Test. If a patient tests positive for the antibodies then he or she is diagnosed as having Pernicious Anaemia.
Doctors do not know why some people produce antibodies that kill off the Intrinsic Factor. Pernicious Anaemia is not the only condition where this self-destruction of essential body functions takes place. Doctors classify medical conditions where this self-destruction happens as Auto-Immune Diseases. Pernicious Anaemia is just one Auto Immune condition. Others include Type One Diabetes, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Multiple Sclerosis, Coeliac Disease, and Crohn’s Disease among others.
Technically blood is a tissue and is made up of two main parts: Blood Plasma and Blood Cells.
Plasma is the liquid suspension that the Cells float in. Plasma will also contain vitamins, clotting agents, various dissolved proteins, glucose, hormones and anti-bodies that fight infections.
The Blood Cell part of blood is made up of three types of Cells: Red Blood Cells (RBC’s) also known as Erythrocytes, White Blood Cells (WBC’s) also called Leukocytes and Platelets or Thrombocytes. The body uses Platelets to clot the blood to stop bleeding. The White Blood Cells fight infections while the Red Blood Cells carry oxygen from the lungs to wherever it is needed.
All blood cells are produced in bone marrow. In adults, only specific bones produce blood cells (the sternum, backbone, ribs and pelvis) whilst almost all the bones in the body produce blood cells in children. The process by which the body produces blood is called Haematopoiesis.
Red blood cells live for about 120 days and old cells are removed by the liver and spleen. Iron, Folate and Vitamin B12 are all needed to produce healthy RBC’s. Red Blood Cells form the largest part of blood. The percentage of RBC’s in blood is known as the Haematocrit. A normal healthy person will have 600 RBC’s to every one White Blood Cell and 40 Platelets.
The main purpose of Red Blood Cells is to carry oxygen from the lungs to cells throughout the body. Some oxygen is carried in the Plasma but a protein in the Red Blood Cell called Haemaglobin allows much larger concentration of oxygen to be carried by the RBC. Haemaglobin also makes the plasma more viscous. Red Blood Cells are able to change shape to allow them to carry the oxygen into very narrow capillaries where the exchange of oxygen takes place. Red Blood Cells have an unusual shape as they have a concave middle on each side of the cell. 33% of a Red Blood Cell is Haemaglobin. Each molecule of Haemaglobin contains four iron atoms and it is these iron atoms that give blood its red colour.
Red Blood Cells need three essential ingredients to perform their main function – the transporting of oxygen around the body. These three ingredients are:
Folate – also known as Folic Acid which is a B vitamin – Vitamin B9. Folate takes its name from the Latin Folium which means leaf so it should come as no surprise that it is found in leafy vegetables and peas and dried beans. Marmite and Vegemite also contain high concentrations of Folate as do most breakfast cereals. Folic Acid is added to bread in several countries.
The second essential ingredient for healthy red blood cells is Iron. This is found in Red Meat, Fish, Poultry, Lentils, Beans, Black-eyed Peas and in Beefy Drinks such as Bovril.
The third essential ingredient needed for healthy red blood cells is Cobalamin or Vitamin B12. This is structurally the most complex vitamin (C H88CoN14O14P), and is found naturally in Meat, Fish and Dairy products including Milk, Butter and Eggs. Strict Vegans who eat no animal products are therefore at risk of developing B12 deficiency especially if they only eat washed vegetables (there is some Vitamin B12 in soil).
B12 is extracted from these various foodstuffs in a very complex biochemical process. The B12 enters the stomach bound to proteins found in saliva. Gastric Parietal Cells release a special protein called Intrinsic Factor. The Intrinsic Factor binds itself to the B12 and this partnership (IF/B12) is then absorbed by the Ileum which is part of the stomach found in the small bowel. The B12 then plays its part in forming healthy RBC’s.
The absorption of B12 is, then, dependent on the Gastric Parietal Cells working correctly to produce the Intrinsic Factor. Without the Intrinsic Factor the B12 cannot be absorbed by the stomach. And so it may come as a surprise to discover that Pernicious Anaemia is not caused by a malfunction of blood but by a faulty digestive process. If the gastric parietal cells do not produce the Intrinsic Factor then the B12 cannot be absorbed and the Red Blood Cells will not be able to do their job properly. This is why some people who have undergone serious stomach surgery will develop Pernicious Anaemia.
However, the number of people suffering from Pernicious Anaemia because the parietal cells do not produce Intrinsic Factor is a very small percentage of people who have the condition. This is because most sufferers of Pernicious Anaemia have a correctly functioning digestive system that produces the Intrinsic Factor necessary to bind with the B12 that can then go on to being absorbed into the blood supply. The problem faced by patients of Pernicious Anaemia is that as well as producing the needed Intrinsic Factor, somehow, and for an unknown reason, they also produce something that ‘kills off’ the Intrinsic Factor. These people produce something called Intrinsic Factor Antibodies that destroy the Intrinsic Factor that they have produced. This is why one of the tests used to diagnose Pernicious Anaemia is the test for Intrinsic Factor Antibodies – the Intrinsic Factor Antibody Test. If a patient tests positive for the antibodies then he or she is diagnosed as having Pernicious Anaemia.
Doctors do not know why some people produce antibodies that kill off the Intrinsic Factor. Pernicious Anaemia is not the only condition where this self-destruction of essential body functions takes place. Doctors classify medical conditions where this self-destruction happens as Auto-Immune Diseases. Pernicious Anaemia is just one Auto Immune condition. Others include Type One Diabetes, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Multiple Sclerosis, Coeliac Disease, and Crohn’s Disease among others.
