A 32-year-old woman is a vegan (i.e., a strict vegetarian who eats no animal products of any kind). She is weak and pale, and laboratory studies show a macrocytic, normochromic anemia (hemoglobin =6.2 g/dL). This patient most likely has which of the following vitamin deficiencies?
Vitamin A
Vitamin B12
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Vitamin B12 which is necessary for DNA synthesis, is contained only in animal products, including eggs. Extreme vegetarians may suffer vitamin B12 deficiency after many years of a restricted diet. The result is a macrocytic anemia similar to that seen in pernicious anemia. Macrocytic anemia is not a consequence of the other choices.Diagnosis: Vitamin B12 deficiency, megaloblastic anemia
Environment & Nutritional Pathology