People with thalassemia show symptoms of fatigue and weakness. These symptoms mostly arise from the inability of the oxygen to reach each cell within the body.
A report by National Health Mission informs that about 10,000 -15,000 babies with the condition are born every year. In the answer below, we have discussed what happens when someone has thalassemia and other questions common among people.
How thalassemia affects a person?
People with thalassemia suffer from anemia. Anemia causes low hemoglobin to prevent red blood cells from taking oxygen throughout the body. Low oxygen stops mitochondria from providing energy to the body. This condition can lead to cell death, which is serious because cells need oxygen to function.
What are the symptoms of thalassemia?
Thalassemia makes a person weak. A research published in 2022 shows the condition cause fatigue, weakness, pale or yellowish skin, poor appetite, facial bone deformities, slow body growth, abdominal swelling, and dark urine. Mild condition might cause only fatigue. Also, some people might remain asymptomatic and show no symptoms.
What happens to DNA when someone has thalassemia?
Genes are made of DNA. People with the condition undergo a change in DNA that makes the associated gene defective or missing. Such people then pass the changed DNA to their children to affect future generations.
What happens when someone has thalassemia as a child?
In most of the cases of alpha thalassemia, affected children are stillborn and the surviving ones are at a higher risk of heart failure. Such children do not produce enough alpha globin in their hemoglobin. Some children with beta-thalassemia have anemia but often do not have symptoms. However, others may show poor growth and development, pale or yellow skin, feeding problems, diarrhea, irritability, fussiness, fevers, enlarged abdomen from an enlarged spleen, gallstones, enlarged liver and spleen, changes in bone structure, soft bones, and leg ulcers or sores.
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