In the same way that traits for hair color and body structure are passed down from parents to children, thalassemia traits are passed from parents to children. A person who has thalassemia trait may not have any symptoms at all or may have only mild anemia, while a person with thalassemia major may have severe symptoms and may need regular blood transfusions. When the words “trait,” “minor,” “intermedia,” or “major” are used, these words describe how severe the thalassemia is. If either the alpha or beta part is not made, there aren’t enough building blocks to make normal amounts of hemoglobin.
When thalassemia is called “alpha” or “beta,” this refers to the part of hemoglobin that isn’t being made. Hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to all cells in the body, is made of two different parts, called alpha and beta. When we talk about different “types” of thalassemia, we might be talking about one of two things: the specific part of hemoglobin that is affected (usually either “alpha” or “beta”), or the severity of thalassemia, which is noted by words like trait, carrier, intermedia, or major. What are the different types of thalassemia? Severe anemia can damage organs and lead to death.
People with thalassemia may have mild or severe anemia. When there are not enough healthy red blood cells, there is also not enough oxygen delivered to all the other cells of the body, which may cause a person to feel tired, weak or short of breath. Oxygen is a sort of food that cells use to function.
Red blood cells carry oxygen to all the cells of the body. When there isn’t enough hemoglobin, the body’s red blood cells don’t function properly and they last shorter periods of time, so there are fewer healthy red blood cells traveling in the bloodstream. Thalassemia is an inherited (i.e., passed from parents to children through genes) blood disorder caused when the body doesn’t make enough of a protein called hemoglobin, an important part of red blood cells.
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