World Thalassaemia Day 2017: Six things you need to know about the disease
Thalassaemia is a blood related genetic disorder which involves the absence of or errors in genes responsible for production of haemoglobin, a protein present in the red blood cells. Each red blood cell can contain between 240 and 300 million molecules of haemoglobin. The severity of the disease depends on the mutations involved in the genes, and their interplay. While thalassaemia is a condition that affects millions of individuals across the world, its awareness isn’t given as much of importance as cancer or diabetes. With over four million individuals from India suffering from the disease, maybe it’s time to notice and take evasive action
What is thalassaemia?
Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder in which a patient cannot make enough Red Blood Cells and needs to be supplemented with RBC transfusions every 2-3 weeks to stay healthy and to survive.
Types of thalassaemia
If only one of the parents is a carrier, the child develops thalassemia minor. People with this disorder usually do not have symptoms, which makes it difficult to detect. It is thus advisable to get tested, in case, any of your parents or relatives have some form of a disease.
The other forms of thalassemia are alpha thalassemia and beta thalassemia. In …read more