Abstract
THE treatment of pernicious anmia by a diet containing large amounts of liver or by the oral administration of an extract of liver or of desiccated stomach tissue is now the standard treatment for this disease. For patients who are severely ill and cannot tolerate oral administration, the intramuscular or intravenous injection of a potent extract of liver may be a life-saving measure moreover, by the parenteral route, smaller doses are required and the response of the blood is quicker. The British Drug Houses, Ltd., London, N.l, are now issuing an extract of liver for intramuscular injection. Each cubic centimetre contains the anti-anmic principles of 50 gm. of fresh liver, whilst its depressor effect does not exceed that of a 0.0005 per cent solution of histamine acid phosphate when introduced by the intravenous route into an etherised cat. In addition to Liver Extract B.D.H., and Liquid Liver Extract B.D.H., preparations for oral administration in the treatment of pernicious anmia, the British Drug Houses also issue the product ‘Livogen’, which is a highly concentrated liquid preparation containing in one fluid ounce the whole of the hmotopoietic principles (including vitamin B) of four ounces of fresh liver. It contains additional vitamin B extract equivalent to one ounce of fresh yeast in each fluid ounce, together with five grains of hmoglobin. For the specific anmias, in which massive doses of iron are indicated, iron ammonium citrate may be dispensed with Livogen, the two products being in every way compatible. Livogen is recommended for use in convalescence from severe illness as well as in both primary and secondary anæmias.
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Treatment of Pernicious Anæmia. Nature 132, 95 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132095a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132095a0