What is Thalassemia?
Hi Everyone. I am starting this blog to let the world know about a genetic disorder which is becoming more common by the day. Every year around 100,000 children are being born with this disorder. This is Thalassemia . It’s a blood disorder or as know in scientific terms a haemoglobinopathy. So let’s begin this blog by answering the very basic question What is Thalassemia ? Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder which is characterized by abnormal red blood cells. In people having this disorder the body does not generate RBCs which have hemoglobin. In fact in some patients it does not generate RBCs itself. This is caused by a mutation in either the alpha or beta globulin in our DNA. Now the next question that you might ask is how you can get this disorder. Thalassemia is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. So the only way you can have this is when the mutation is present in the genetic code of both parents and the child receives the abnormal gene from both paren