Risk Factors And Causes Of Pernicious Anemia

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease characterized by the immune system targeting and attacking the beta cells of the pancreas that produce insulin. Insulin is a critical hormone that is important to the body because it is responsible for managing blood glucose. Insulin does this by allowing the glucose in the blood to be absorbed into cells so they can undergo normal metabolic processes to produce a usable form of energy. Because the immune system is creating antibodies that are destroying cells of the pancreas that secrete insulin, it is likely the immune system would also produce another type of antibody following the same mechanism. This can likely be the one that would target and destroy intrinsic factor in the stomach and the cells that produce intrinsic factor. Pernicious anemia is ten times more common in individuals with type 1 diabetes than in individuals who do not have it. Although scientific reasons for this are not exactly clear, it seems to be related to the prevalence of co-occurring autoimmune disorders.

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