Discussion Forums > Thalassemia Major

Please Help Me Understand Thalassemia

<< < (2/3) > >>

Kathy11:
Hi Delsia,
IT warm my heart to read how caring your are towards your mother, she must be very  proud of you .
 Despite of your mothers' independance she is in need of lots of help in regards to her health.
It is very hard searching for a diagnosis and proper care but I believe its possible .I'm so glad you have access this site its a good place to start and we are all here to assist and listen.I found this site caring and friendly and the members  can never do enough to help in which way they can. Good luck and god bless you both.Kathy :hug

Andy Battaglia:
Hi Delsia,

Thal minor cannot turn into major. There are two beta hemoglobin genes and if both are beta thal genes, the result is a major, or possibly intermedia, which is a less severe mutation of the genes.

Intermedia is also unlikely unless your mom has had symptoms for 20 years or more, as symptoms would have become apparent no later than in her 30's or 40's, if not before then.

Thal minor can become more of a problem as one ages as we have occassionally read in posts from older patients. Do you know what the doctor based his diagnosis on? Was a complete blood count done? For starters you need to find out what her hemoglobin level is. It may be a good idea to have her blood work sent to the Mayo clinic for interpretation. Thalassemia is not common in the south and chances are her doctor has never seen a case and unintentionally has caused alarm with this misdiagnosis.

For now, please take some relief in knowing that major is 100% impossible. Majors depend on frequent blood transfusions to stay alive and your mom could not possibly have it and be alive in her 60's without life long transfusions.

§ãJ¡Ð ساجد:
Hello Delsia,

You can safely rule-out Thal. Major or any other type turning into a Thal Major. It is most probably that your mom has Thal Inter media.

You can check out their respective sections on the main page of the site and you can also find some useful info about Alpha/Beta types of Thal. in the documents section of the site. (Scroll below on the main page to see it)

§ãJ¡Ð ساجد:
I forgot to add something last night as a storm was brewing up and I had to shut down for the fear of electrical failure and surges that could damage my PC as I already had one of the worst day of my PC experience that morning.

Anyway, I was thinking that there should be big separate link/section on the top of the main page with the title "What is Thalassemia?" or "About Thalassemia" containing general info about the disease and links to the other sections of the site such as the boards for different types of Thal. for the newbies or non-Thal. visitors.

Mr. Andy?

mustho:
Hi Delsia, as others has said its very unlikely or rather impossible you mother to be a thalassemia major undiagnosed till that age. And also as Andy said its very unlikely its thalassemia intermediate either. If at all there is any from of thalassemia its likely that can be thalassemia minor ( heterozygous for thalassemia). But many times this type can mimic most common type of anemia every where in the world, that is iron deficiency anemia. As your mother is in that age where it can be likely differential diagnosis iron deficiency. To diagnose or differentiate this sometimes some hematologists treat their patients with iron tablets and the blood parameters are corrected. If it still persists after treatment with other hemoglobin investigation they can rule out thalassemia minor.

The important thing to keep in mind here is, thalassemia minor is not clinically significant condition where any form of treatment is needed as such neither it has any kind of life threatening complications. It is only a mutation in your hemoglobin which makes you mild decrease in your hemoglobin level. My advice is tell your mum not to worry much about thalassemia as such, and if at  all this need to be rule out properly, investigate for CBC, Quantitate hemoglobin and see blood picture.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page