Thalassemia

Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that causes your body to have less hemoglobin than a normal person has in their blood. Hemoglobin enables red blood cells to carry oxygen to the blood.

Thalassemia can also cause anemia which makes you weak and you start feeling fatigued. If you have mild thalassemia then you don't need treatment because you can recover yourself and your weakness by eating healthy food and a good diet. But if you have some severe forms of thalassemia then you need regular blood transfusions.

Symptoms 

If you want to know if you are a thalassemia patient or not? Here is list of some important symptoms of thalassemia:

• Weakness

• Fatigue

• Pale and yellowish skin

• Swelling in abdomen

• Growth becomes slow

• Urine color become dark

• Deformities in facial bone

If someone has just one affected hemoglobin gene then there is little chance of thalassemia. Some patients show symptoms at the birth time but some during development in early one or two years. If your child has some kind of symptoms then take an appointment with the child's specialist doctor.

Causes of thalassemia

It is a hereditary genetic blood disorder that affects the production of hemoglobin that is in red blood cells. The cells that carry the oxygen in our body are interesting. You may have one faulty gene in your body and yet lead a normal life they are called beta-thalassemia minor.

They do not develop the disease but can pass it to the next generation the ones having both genes faulty are the worst affected they are called beta-thalassemia major they cannot produce the required hemoglobin on their own. They suffer from severe anemia need a blood transfusion every month throughout their life and face many more complications their quality of life is poor and they do not live very long but how does a child become major thalassemia.

There is no problem to the child if only one parent is a carrier but if both the father and the mother are thalassemia carriers. There is a 25% chance with every pregnancy that the child will have thalassemia major. Treating thalassemia is a constant fight besides blood transfusion every month. There is a lifelong eye insulation Therapy supplementation of folic acid.

Prevention:

It's best to get your blood tested for carrier status to know if you are a carrier or not? Before you decide to marry or have a child with another carrier.