Martyn Hooper

The Documentary that has been nine months in the making will be premiered on the same day of the Symposium.

The Date is Thursday June 9th.  I am busy trying to secure a grant that will cover the cost of hosting the event (around £4,500) and the venue will be determined by whether or not the grant application is successful.  If it is successful the event will be held in Wales, if not then we will be seeking sponsorship to host the event in London.

The Documentary – Living In The Fog - will be shown at the event and so the venue will probably be a cinema.

Speakers who are confirmed attendees at the Symposium are:

Professor David Smith – Professor of Ageing Medicine, University of Oxford.

Professor Helga Refsum – Professor of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Visiting Professor of Nutrition, University of Oxford.

Dr. Edward Valente – Marketing Manager, Axis-Shield Diagnostics.

Dr. Fiona Porter-Smith – a General Practitioner and member of the society who devised and analysed our survey.  I may have to present these findings as Fiona is due to give birth just before the event!

I am still waiting to hear back from two other speakers who will  almost certainly be present.

The idea behind the symposium is to bring together doctors who are aware of the serious issues relating to the diagnosis and treatment of Pernicious Anaemia in particular and B12 Deficiency in general.  We, as a society, are aware of these issues, as are some notable doctors.  Yet nowhere is this information being widely disseminated throughout the medical profession.  The hardest bit will be getting doctors who are, as yet, completely unaware of these serious issues to attend.

If you are considering attending the event please be aware that the content of the papers (with the exception of me or Fiona’s) will be highly technical and based on complex science.  The Documentary will be easy to understand though.  Please call the office if you are interested in attending.

More of this as it develops…..

A lady telephoned the office yesterday asking for some advice.  The call was transferred to me.  I was aware that doctors are reluctant to prescribe B12 for whatever reason, but this latest call drove home to me the magnitude of the problem that we face.  The conversation went like this:

Me – “How can I help”

Caller “I’d like some advice please”

“Certainly, but I have to advise you that I am not medically qualified and your doctor is the best person to advise you of any medical matter”

“That’s the problem”

“Okay – go ahead”

“Well, my doctor has run all kinds of antibody tests on me and I have tested positive for Intrisic Factor Antibody”

“So you have Pernicious Anaemia!”

“Well, I have all of the symptoms on your checklist apart from one”

“Then you have Pernicious Anaemia”

“But my doctor won’t diagnose me with having it – even though My Great Grandmother died from it”

“Why won’t your doctor diagnose Pernicious Anaemia?”

“Because she doesn’t trust the test and thinks it might be a mistake”

“So what has she diagnosed”

“Depression”

“Let me get this right – you have nearly all of the symptoms, you have a family history and you tested positive for the Intrinsic Factor Antibody?”

“Yes – that’s correct”

“And your doctor thinks you are depressed?”

“Yes – she wanted to prescribe me anti-depressants but I refused.  I’m not depressed, but I have no energy, can’t think clearly, have memory problems and have pins and needles and numbness in my legs and feet – I don’t know what to do.”

“What is your doctor going to do next?”

“Order the Intrinsic Factor Antibody test again to rule out Pernicious Anaemia.”

“That test is around 40% accurate and so there is the chance that the test will come back negative”

“I know – what can I do?”

“The only thing I can advise you to do is ask to be seen by another doctor”

“I thought that was what you would advise”

I ended the call and shook my head.  This is, after all, a harmless vitamin.