Thalassemia

[AJS-]

Anyone even heard of this?

My girlfriend is 8 weeks pregnant and this was shown up in the blood test. She has never had any symptoms or problems relating to this and is otherwise healthy.

She has also had some slight bleeding, but a scan revealed no problems or abnormalities.

The problem is, since we live in Thailand it's not easy for me to understand what they are talking about, the doctor spoke no English, and my Thai isn't up to learning about new diseases.

From what I've read on Wikipedia etc it's quite a common condition in many regions, and usually nothing to worry about if only one parent is infected (I've been tested). She has been given medicine to boost her hormones and told to rest a lot.

I'm pretty sure there is nothing I can do, however I would like to know what's going on, and what the likelihood of further problems is? If anyone can shed any light on this or share any experiences then it would be much appreciated. Good news or bad.

Thanks in advance.

[E21_Ross]

AJS- said:

Anyone even heard of this?

My girlfriend is 8 weeks pregnant and this was shown up in the blood test. She has never had any symptoms or problems relating to this and is otherwise healthy.

She has also had some slight bleeding, but a scan revealed no problems or abnormalities.

The problem is, since we live in Thailand it's not easy for me to understand what they are talking about, the doctor spoke no English, and my Thai isn't up to learning about new diseases.

From what I've read on Wikipedia etc it's quite a common condition in many regions, and usually nothing to worry about if only one parent is infected (I've been tested). She has been given medicine to boost her hormones and told to rest a lot.

I'm pretty sure there is nothing I can do, however I would like to know what's going on, and what the likelihood of further problems is? If anyone can shed any light on this or share any experiences then it would be much appreciated. Good news or bad.

Thanks in advance.

been a while since i covered this in lectures.....i'm guessing your wife is thai? also, the fact she's not really had any symptoms suggests it's thalassaemia minor, as major has a very poor outcome generally, with survival beyond the first few years of life is quite rare, with an onset within the 1st year of life. i'm sure you now know the common signs and symptoms so if she starts feeling very tired etc, then get to her to see someone if she's not been scheduled for regular check ups. a good, quick and easy check for the level of anaemia present is to look under the bottom eye lid. just pull it down slightly and usually it's quite red, in anaemics, this is often pale.

there isn't a great deal you can do, they may do blood transfusions if it gets too bad, but again, repeated transfusions can often lead to haemochromatosis.

i'm sure when the child is born they'll perform some tests after a few months (about 6-9months at a guess) to see whether the child has inherited the disease. hopefully they won't, and if they do, i hope it's not thal. major.

all the best,

Ross.

Edited by E21_Ross on Wednesday 8th December 19:45

[IanMorewood]

Form of anaemia quite common in that part of the world just have your girl friend take it easy and do as the doctors say.