Hello friends, hope you all are fine
and joyful. At start, thank you very much to all of you for appreciating and commenting
in my post and also for sharing your thoughts with me. After seeing you excitement
and respond, today I am so much happy right now writing the second and the last
part of my last topic’s post. As I told you in my last post, today I am going
to finish this topic with more informative things. So, without extending and
taking more time with the beginning part, here is the final part of the last
topic.
Symptoms
of thalassemia:
Symptoms of thalassemia depend on
the number of genes affected and can range from no symptoms at all to severe
anemia.
The primary symptoms of thalassemia
are a result of anemia, a decreased number of healthy red blood cells. The
following are the most common symptoms of anemia. However, each people may
experience symptoms differently. The symptoms may include, but are not limited
to, the following:
- pale skin, lips, hands or under
the eyelids
- increased heart rate
(tachycardia)
- breathlessness, or difficulty
catching a breath (dyspnea)
- lack of energy, or tiring
easily (fatigue)
- dizziness or vertigo,
especially upon standing
- headache
- irritability
- irregular menstruation cycles
- absent or delayed menstruation
(amenorrhea)
- jaundice, or yellowing of skin,
eyes, and mouth
- enlarged spleen or liver
(splenomegaly, hepatomegaly)
- slow or delayed growth and
development
Patients who carry a single
thalassemia gene are said to have “thalassemia trait.” These patients are
generally healthy and do not require any treatment.
Thalassemia intermediate causes less
severe symptoms than thalassemia major. This can make it difficult to diagnose
because it may resemble other forms of anemia.
Thalassemia major causes the most
severe anemia and requires ongoing treatment and regular blood transfusions.
Complications:
- Iron overload:
People with thalassemia can get an overload of iron in their bodies,
either from the disease itself or from frequent blood transfusions. Too
much iron can result in damage to the heart, liver and endocrine system,
which includes glands that produce hormones that regulate processes
throughout the body. The damage is characterized by excessive deposits of
iron. Without adequate iron chelation therapy, almost all patients with
beta-thalassemia will accumulate potentially fatal iron levels.
- Infection:
People with thalassemia have an increased risk of infection. This is
especially true if the spleen has been removed.
- Bone deformities:
Thalassemia can make the bone marrow expand, which causes bones to widen.
This can result in abnormal bone structure, especially in the face and
skull. Bone marrow expansion also makes bones thin and brittle, increasing
the risk of broken bones.
- Enlarge spleen: The
spleen aids in fighting infection and filters unwanted material, such as
old or damaged blood cells. Thalassemia is often accompanied by the
destruction of a large number of red blood cells and the task of removing
these cells causes the spleen to enlarge. Splenomegaly can make anemia
worse, and it can reduce the life of transfused red blood cells. Severe
enlargement of the spleen may necessitate its removal.
- Slowed growth rates:
Anemia can cause a child's growth to slow. Puberty also may be delayed in
children with thalassemia.
- Heart problems:
such as congestive heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias),
may be associated with severe thalassemia.
How
serious is it?
Thalassemia major requires ongoing
treatment and blood transfusions throughout their lives. In addition, they need
ongoing chelation therapy to remove excess iron in the blood that builds up
from these transfusions. Milder forms of thalassemia, including thalassemia
intermediate and thalassemia minor, require less aggressive treatment or no
treatment at all.
Treatment:
Regular blood transfusions allow
patients with thalassemia to grow normally and be active. Unfortunately,
transfusions result in deadly accumulation of iron in the heart and liver. If
the excess iron is not removed then the patients may suffer from a premature
death due to iron overload.
Nowadays, drugs designed to remove
excess iron (iron chelators) have significantly changed the prognosis of thalassemia.
Patients can grow and develop normally, with relatively normal heart and liver
functions. Patients are living longer and having families of their
own. Medical advances continue and promise to improve the life expectancy
and quality of life further for those living with thalassemia.
Current treatments allow thalassemia
patients to live relatively normal life, however, a cure remains to be found.
And as I always believe and always will that there is still presents of A HOPE
which keeps us alive and make us to believe that we can do anything. Like this-
Some
Chinese doctors have discovered a new mutant gene for alpha-thalassemia, first
of its kind, an advance that enriches the gene database
to assist researches into cures for the genetic disease.
The mutant gene was identified by the end of
2012 before it was added to the Gene Bank database in the US-based National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and made public
on October 1, 2013.
There is no effective cure for alpha-thalassemia,
and the discovery of the new mutation will help prevention and research into
the disease while preparing theoretical basis for future gene therapy.
How can we prevent Thalassemia?
Please
share the information with others. Show it to your family, friends, neighbors,
co-workers or anyone who has origins from areas where thalassemia is common. Be
sure to ask your doctor to test you for thalassemia minor. Increased awareness
is the key, please
do your part by spreading the words.
So
friend, hope you like the final part of my post. As the way you share your thoughts
and comments last time, hope you shall do that all the time. Keep sharing your
thoughts, topics you want to understand perfectly, questions or anything about
pharmacy and medical science. Till then stay healthy, be passionate, of course
do not forget to keep blogging and share our blog to your friends.
.jpg)