Symptoms of Sickle Cell Anemia
Treatments and Drugs:
What is the Thalassemia?
Thalassemia, also known as Mediterranean anemia, is a disorder that causes the blood to contain inadequate amounts of red blood cells and hemoglobin. This condition is inherited and is most prevalent in individuals of Italian, Middle Eastern, Greek, African, Chinese, Filipino and southern Asian descent.Thalassemia Types and Symptoms:
1. Alpha Thalassemia
Alpha thalassemia occurs when one or more of the four alpha chain genes fails to function. Alpha chain protein production, for practical purposes, is evenly divided among the four genes. With alpha thalassemia, the "failed" genes are almost invariably lost from the cell due to a genetic accident.
a) The loss of one gene diminishes the production of the alpha protein only slightly. This condition is so close to normal that it can be detected only by specialized laboratory techniques that, until recently, were confined to research laboratories. A person with this condition is called a "silent carrier" because of the difficulty in detection.
b) The loss of two genes (two-gene deletion alpha thalassemia) produces a condition with small red blood cells, and at most a mild anemia. People with this condition look and feel normal. The condition can be detected by routine blood testing, however.
c) The loss of three alpha genes produces a serious hematological problem (three-gene deletion alpha thalassemia). Patients with this condition have a severe anemia, and often require blood transfusions to survive. The severe imbalance between the alpha chain production and beta chain production (which is normal) causes an accumulation of beta chains inside the red blood cells. Normally, beta chains pair only with alpha chains. With three-gene deletion alpha thalassemia, however, beta chains begin to associate in groups of four, producing an abnormal hemoglobin, called "hemoglobin H". The condition is called "hemoglobin H disease".
Hemoglobin H has two problems. First it does not carry oxygen properly, making it functionally useless to the cell. Second, hemoglobin H protein damages the membrane that surrounds the red cell, accelerating cell destruction. The combination of the very low production of alpha chains and destruction of red cells in hemoglobin H disease produces a severe, life-threatening anemia. Untreated, most patients die in childhood or early adolescence.
d) The loss of all four alpha genes produces a condition that is incompatible with life. The gamma chains produced during fetal life associate in groups of four to form an abnormal hemoglobin called "Hemoglobin Barts". Most people with four-gene deletion alpha thalassemia die in utero or shortly after birth. Rarely, four gene deletion alpha thalassemia has been detected in utero, usually in a family where the disorder occured in an earlier child. In utero blood transfusions have saved some of these children. These patients require life-long transfusions and other medical support.
manner, such as:
Treatments and Drugs
Prevention of Genetic Blood Diseases:
The commitment to a premarital examination helps to reduce the transmission of genetic blood diseases across generations; as medical tests show the possible existence of infected genes among women or men, who do not show symptoms.
All Rights Reserved – Ministry of Health – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ©