1. By: Juan Pablo Ordoñez, Valeria Méndez,
Thalassemia
By: Juan Pablo Ordoñez, Valeria Méndez,

2. What is Thalassemia?
Genetic disorder in which the body produces an unusual amount of hemoglobin
There are several different types of thalassemia:
Alpha Thalassemia
Beta Thalassemia
Thalassemia Intermediate
Thalassemia minor

3. How is it inherited?
The disease is inherited when both of the parents are carriers of this disorder.
When only one parent has the disease the offspring develops thalassemia minor, but rarely shows symptoms.

4. What are the symptoms? Major Thalassemia Thalassemia Minor Anemia
Usually the person will not show any physicall symptom, but they will develop smaller red blood cells.
Fatigue
Shortness of Breathing
Yellow Skin
Iron overload
When the pacient is in treatment.

5. Treatments There is no safe cure.
The most common treatment is blood transfusion, This will replace the lost red blood cells with new.
It will give the patient a better quality and quantity of life.
A sideffect of this treatment may be an iron overload, but it can be treated with special pills (iron chelators)

6. Other Facts
100,000 children are born with this defect every year (approximately)
It is estimated that around million people are carriers of this disease
Europe and the Americas has a low risk
1/300 people are carriers
1/1000 are low risk
And 1/30 are high risk

7. Bibliograohy
Disease & Treatment « Thalassemia. (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2015, from
Holm, G. (2012, July 17). Health Line. Retrieved from
Plus, M. (2014, February 24). Medline Plus. Retrieved from