The increasing importance of vitamin B12 deficiency as a contributing factor to anemia in Malaysia.
A comparative study was done to determine the profile of vitamin B12 and folate status in Malaysians during two different periods. For the period of 1987/88, we analysed a total of 9,162 cases (inpatients) referred for vitamin B12 estimation and 10,290 cases for folate estimation. We found that 2.6% were vitamin B12 deficient and 31.2% were folate deficient. For the period of 1992/93, of the 9,962 cases assayed, 8.2% were found to be vitamin B12 deficient whereas 7.6% of the 10,355 cases referred were folate deficient. Vitamin B12 and folate were assayed either using microbiological or radioassays. These findings indicate that there appears to be a change in the status of both vitamin B12 and folate over the five year interval.
Ishak
R
R
Hematology Division, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Hassan
K
K
D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology*; D005494:Folic Acid Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D014806:Vitamin B 12 Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*