Perscription - Beta Thalassemia Minor?

By definition, Beta Thalassemia Minor has no symptoms. If you feel ill, the thalassemia is probably not the cause. One common BTM problem is excessive iron: avoid iron supplements and eat more chicken than beef.

Iron medicines "could even be harmful if taken over a long period of time." (1)

"Diet - Food rich in iron should be avoided. Vitamins C and E and folic acid are added as supplements." (2)

Folks with Beta Thalassemia Minor often have no symptoms. If one does a CBC (complete blood count) there will be evidence of a minor anemia. The red blood cells will be a bit small and contain less hemoglobin but the body makes alot more of them to compensate. Typically no treatment is required and there is no specific treatment/cure.

It is possible that Beta Thalassemia developed and remained in the gene pool because it confers some protection against the effects of malaria which up until recently was quite common in Mediterranean areas.

Alpha thalassemia minor, in which two alpha globin genes are missing or abnormal, usually does not cause major health problems.

Beta Thalassemia

The thalassemias are a group of genetic (inherited) blood disorders that share in common one feature, the defective production of hemoglobin, the protein that enables red blood cells to carry oxygen (and carbon dioxide). There are many different disorders with defective hemoglobin synthesis and, hence, many types of thalassemia.

What is beta thalassemia?

The most familiar type of thalassemia is beta thalassemia. It involves decreased production of normal adult hemoglobin (Hb A), the predominant type of hemoglobin from soon after birth until death. (All hemoglobin consists of two parts: heme and globin). The globin part of Hb A has 4 protein sections called polypeptide chains. Two of these chains are identical and are designated the alpha chains. The other two chains are also identical to one another but differ from the alpha chains and are termed the beta chains. In persons with beta thalassemia, there is reduced or absent production of beta globin chains.

What is the difference between thalassemia minor and major?

There are two forms of beta thalassemia. They are thalassemia minor and thalassemia major (which is also called Cooley's anemia).

Thalassemia minor: The individual with thalassemia minor has only one copy of the beta thalassemia gene (together with one perfectly normal beta-chain gene). The person is said to be heterozygous for beta thalassemia.

Persons with thalassemia minor have (at most) mild anemia (with slight lowering of the hemoglobin level in the blood). This situation can very closely resemble that with mild iron-deficiency anemia. However, persons with thalassemia minor have a normal blood iron level (unless they have are iron deficient for other reasons). No treatment is necessary for thalassemia minor. In particular, iron is neither necessary nor advised.

Any prescription which removes (chelates) iron from the blood is a good one.