Intrinsic Factor - Treatment

Treatment

Patients experiencing an insufficiency in their intrinsic factor levels cannot benefit from a low dose oral vitamin B12 supplement, because it will not absorb through the wall of the small intestine. Historically, the disease was thought untreatable before the discovery that it could be managed with regular injections of vitamin B12, thus bypassing the digestive tract. More recently, Swedish researchers discovered that sufficiently large doses of B12 can also be absorbed sublingually, removing the necessity for injectable B12. However, as of yet, no standards have been set for treatment by the sublingual route and injections of B12 are the only reliable method of treatment.

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