Alpha and Beta Thalassemia
What are thalassemias?
Thalassemias (thal-a-SE-me-ahs) are inherited blood disorders. "Inherited" means they're passed on from parents to children through genes.
Thalassemias cause the body to make fewer healthy red blood cells and less hemoglobin (HEE-muh-glow-bin) than normal. Hemoglobin is an iron-rich protein in red blood cells. It carries oxygen to all parts of the body. It also carries carbon dioxide (a waste gas) from the body to the lungs, where it's exhaled.
People who have thalassemias can have mild or severe anemia (uh-NEE-me-uh). This condition is caused by a lower than normal number of red blood cells or not enough hemoglobin in the red blood cells.
What Causes Thalassemias?
Your body makes three types of blood cells: red blood cells, white blood
cells, and platelets (PLATE-lets). Red blood cells contain hemoglobin, an
iron-rich protein that carries oxygen from your lungs to all parts of your body.
Hemoglobin also carries carbon dioxide (a waste gas) from your body to your
lungs to be exhaled.
Hemoglobin has two kinds of protein chains: alpha globin and beta globin. If
your body doesn't make enough of these protein chains, red blood cells don't
form properly and can't carry enough oxygen. Your body won't work well if your
red blood cells don't make enough healthy hemoglobin.
Genes control how the body makes hemoglobin protein chains. When these genes
are missing or altered, thalassemias occur.
Thalassemias are inherited disorders. That is, they're
passed on from parents to their children through genes. People who get abnormal
hemoglobin genes from one parent but normal genes from the other are called
carriers. Carriers often have no signs of illness other than mild anemia. However, they can pass the
abnormal genes on to their children.
People with moderate to severe forms of thalassemia have inherited abnormal
genes from both parents.
Next: Alpha thalassemias »
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