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Thalassemia in babies can cause various complications. Derived from the Greek word 'thálassa' or sea, the term thalassemia denotes the haemoglobin defect in children. Thalassemia was first noticed among the children in Mediterranean countries. Mediterranean Anaemia and Cooley's anemia are the two other names of thalassemia.
Millions of people all over the world suffer from Thalassemia and allied disorders today.
It is alarming that more than 1,00,000 thalassemia majors are born annually all over the world. Thalassemia is an "autosomal recessive disease" and affects the hemoglobin, which is present in the red blood cells of the body.
Haemoglobin, present in the red blood cells plays a vital function by carrying oxygen to the various organs and tissues of different parts of our body. Transportation of oxygen is necessary to make the organs 'breathe'. Thalassemia in Babies results in more 'brittle' haemoglobin, which decreases the life span of red blood cells.
Thalassemia can be of three types, thalassemia major, thalassemia intermedia and the thalassemia minor. Thalassemia minor is also known as the 'carrier' or 'silent' kind. The patients suffering from thalassemia major have faster rate of destruction of haemoglobin than its production, which results severe anaemia.
The thalassemia major develops symptoms among people like retarded growth, paleness, etc. The deposition of iron in liver, spleen and heart leads to enlargement of these organs.
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Thalassemia in babies can result in death between one to five years of age. The increasing number of thalassemia gene carriers is a great concern today. The thalassemia gene carriers, when married to each other, give birth to a thalassemia major baby in 25 per cent cases.
Anaemia resulting from thalassemia needs to be treated with proper care. The treatment includes specific medicines and of dietary supplements. The patients of thalassemia have to undergo repeated blood transfusion every two to four weeks. For removing extra iron, the medications known as "iron chelators" are used, which are given as a pill or as an infusion under the skin.
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Lack of treatment can result in early deaths in the babies suffering from thalassemia. For severe thalassemia patients bone marrow transplant or a stem cell transplant is used. In case of thalassemia minor the signs and symptoms are usually mild and may need a blood transfusion, especially after surgery. For thalassemia patients, a well-balanced diet with plenty of nutritious food is advised.
To know more on congenital diseases in babies, browse through the pages of Pregnancyxl.com.
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