Abstract
The neuropsychiatric states of 50 patients with vitamin B12 deficiency and 34 patients with folate deficiency presenting with megaloblastosis in a general hospital were examined and compared. Abnormalities of the nervous system were found in two-thirds of both groups. Peripheral neuropathy was the most common condition associated with vitamin B12 deficiency and affective disorder with folate deficiency. The proportions of patients with organic mental change were similar in the two groups. Subacute combined degeneration of the cord was an uncommon complication and occurred only in the patients with vitamin B12 deficiency. There was no relation between haematological and neuropsychiatric abnormalities. The neuropsychiatry of megaloblastic anaemia seen in this study of patients presenting to haematologists or general physicians contrasts with that reported previously, before haematological techniques for separating the two deficiencies were introduced.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Lockner D., Reizenstein P., Wennberg A., Widén L. Peripheral nerve function in pernicious anemia before and after treatment. Acta Haematol. 1969;41(5):257–263. doi: 10.1159/000208860. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Reynolds E. H. Neurological aspects of folate and vitamin B12 metabolism. Clin Haematol. 1976 Oct;5(3):661–696. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]