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https://hdl.handle.net/2440/61358
Type: | Journal article |
Title: | Vitamin B12 deficiency: Why refugee patients are at high risk |
Author: | Benson, J. Maldari, T. Turnbull, T. |
Citation: | Australian Family Physician, 2010; 39(4):215-217 |
Publisher: | Royal Australian College of General Practitioners |
Issue Date: | 2010 |
ISSN: | 0300-8495 |
Statement of Responsibility: | Jill Benson, Toni Maldari and Thomas Turnbull |
Abstract: | BACKGROUND: Vitamin B12 is one of the most complex vitamins. The measurement of serum levels and the significance of the results are much debated in the literature. OBJECTIVE: This article discusses testing for vitamin B12 deficiency, its clinical manifestations and the possible repercussions for Australia’s refugee population. DISCUSSION: Full blood count and blood film, iron studies and haemoglobinopathy studies are routinely performed for newly arrived refugees in Australia. At the Migrant Health Service in Adelaide, South Australia, a young woman was found to have a very unusual blood picture with a normal mean cell volume, despite quite severe iron deficiency and thalassaemia trait. Her vitamin B12 was found to be 75 pmol/L. The following week there arose another case of an 11 month old breastfed baby with a vitamin B12 level of 52 pmol/L, whose mother had a level of 300 pmol/L. Understanding the clinical manifestations of vitamin B12 deficiency and how it is relevant to Australia’s refugee population might assist to resolve some of the difficulties that refugees face in Australia. |
Keywords: | Humans Vitamin B 12 Deficiency Diet Risk Assessment Risk Factors Refugees Vulnerable Populations Australia Female |
Rights: | Copyright status unknown |
Published version: | http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/201004/36596 |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest General Practice publications |
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