Vitamin-deficiency anemia occurs because a person's body is not getting enough of the nutritional building blocks used to produce healthy red blood cells. Vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and folate (or vitamin B9) all play a role in creating the red blood cells necessary for delivering oxygen to cells throughout the body. If a person’s levels of one or more of these vitamins is low, anemia can result.
This type of anemia is most common in seniors, especially those who have a decreased appetite. Studies have found that 13 percent of seniors older than 65 have a vitamin B12 deficiency, and about 5 percent of seniors have a folate deficiency. Vegetarians also have an increased risk of acquiring vitamin-deficiency anemia because meat is a main source of vitamin B12.
The causes of vitamin-deficiency anemia depend on what essential vitamin your body is lacking.
Vitamin B6-Deficiency Anemia
Your body requires vitamin B6 to produce hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells needed to deliver oxygen throughout the body. This form of vitamin-deficiency anemia occurs most often when you aren't eating enough foods rich in vitamin B6, such as fortified cereals, beans, bananas, nuts, meat, poultry, fish, and some fruits and vegetables.
Vitamin B6 deficiency can also be caused by certain medications, including Nydrazid (isoniazid), used to treat tuberculosis and L-DOPA, a treatment for Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions.
Vitamin B12-Deficiency Anemia
This vitamin is essential in the production of healthy red blood cells. There are several reasons a person could have a vitamin B12 deficiency, including:
- Diet. Most people get their vitamin B12 from meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products. People who don't eat enough of those foods, like vegetarians, run the risk of vitamin-deficiency anemia. Alcohol can interfere with the absorption of vitamin B12, making alcoholics another risk group.
- Intestinal or digestive disorders. Conditions like Crohn's disease and celiac disease can hamper the body's ability to absorb vitamin B12. Older people also may have a condition called achlorhydria, in which the body doesn't produce enough gastric acid to release the vitamin B12 in their food for absorption by the intestines. Gastric bypass surgery undertaken to produce weight loss can cause this form of vitamin-deficiency anemia as well.
- Pernicious anemia. For the body to properly absorb vitamin B12, the nutrient must be bound to a protein produced in the stomach called intrinsic factor. In pernicious anemia, the immune system turns on itself and destroys the stomach cells that produce intrinsic factor. B12 cannot be absorbed, and anemia develops.
Red blood cells created without enough folate in the body tend to be large and malformed, and die off quickly. Folate, also known as folic acid, is another B vitamin — B9. Causes of folate deficiency include:
- Diet. Folate can be found in green leafy vegetables, yeast, and liver. A diet lacking in these can lead to vitamin-deficiency anemia. Alcohol also interferes with the absorption of folate.
- Intestinal disorders. Conditions like celiac disease can interfere with the absorption of folate by the intestines.
- Medications. Certain medications can interfere with the absorption of folate, particularly anti-seizure drugs like phenytoin, primidone, and phenobarbital.
- Pregnancy. Pregnant women have an increased need for folate, which can lead to a deficiency if they are not taking folate supplements.
Treatment for Vitamin-Deficiency Anemia
Treatment of vitamin-deficiency anemia most often involves improving the diet to include foods rich in the vitamins you are lacking. You also can take vitamin supplements orally or, in serious cases, by injection.
If your vitamin-deficiency anemia is caused by an intestinal or digestive disorder, your doctor will need to treat the cause. In the meantime, vitamin supplements or injections can keep your red blood cell count up. People with pernicious anemia will have to receive vitamin B12 injections for the rest of their lives.
In all cases, once the body begins receiving adequate amounts of the needed vitamins, the vitamin-deficiency anemia should reverse itself within weeks.
Last Updated: 3/24/2010