No, truthfully, I usually expect more from the Annals of Internal
Medicine. This has only been known for about 30 years. It's not
entirely the newspapers' fault.

J Am Geriatr Soc. 1998 Sep;46(9):1125-7.

Oral cobalamin for pernicious anemia: back from the verge of
extinction.

Lederle FA.

Department of Medicine, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, MN
55417,
USA.

BACKGROUND: High dose oral cobalamin therapy was shown to be effective
for
pernicious anemia and other cobalamin deficiency states 30 years ago,
and
physicians and patients state that they would find oral therapy useful,
but a
survey conducted in 1989 found that physicians were generally unaware
of it.
OBJECTIVE: To assess physician awareness and use of oral cobalamin
since 1989.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Minneapolis area internists not
listed as
having subspecialties or academic business addresses were surveyed in
1989 and
in 1996. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: There were 245 responses to the 1989
survey
and 223 responses to the 1996 survey for response rates of 68% and 69%,
respectively. The percentage of internists who ever used oral cobalamin
to treat
pernicious anemia increased from 0 in 1989 to 19% in 1996 (P < .001).
The
percentage who were aware of an effective oral cobalamin preparation
for
treating cobalamin deficiency states also increased significantly from
4 to 29%
(P < .001). The percentage of internists who agreed with the incorrect
view that
sufficient quantities of cobalamin cannot be absorbed when given orally
declined
from 91% in 1989 to 71% in 1996 (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Minneapolis
internists'
awareness and use of oral cobalamin treatment for pernicious anemia
increased
substantially between 1989 and 1996, but the majority of internists
remained
unaware of this treatment option.

PMID: 9736106 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]