*’peripheral blood film’ from a person with ‘delta beta thalassemia’*
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“thala SEE mee ah“
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“see…how they run…”
(from θάλασσα, thalassa, sea + αἷμα, haima, blood;
British spelling –> “thalassaemia”)
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*an “in-herited auto-somal recessive blood disease”*
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(‘thalassemias’ are ‘inherited blood disorders’ that can result in the abnormal formation of ‘hemoglobin’)
(symptoms depend on the type and can vary from ‘none’ to ‘severe’)
(often there is mild to severe ‘anemia’ (low ‘red blood cells’)
(‘anemia’ can result in ‘feeling tired’ and ‘pale skin’)
(there may also be ‘bone problems’, an ‘enlarged spleen’, ‘yellowish skin’, ‘dark urine’, and among children ‘slow growth’)
(‘thalassemias’ are ‘genetic disorders’ inherited from a person’s parents)
(there are two main types, ‘alpha thalassemia’ and ‘beta thalassemia’)
(the severity of ‘alpha’ and ‘beta’ thalassemia depends on how many of the 4 genes for ‘alpha globin’ or 2 genes for ‘beta globin’ are missing)
(diagnosis is typically by ‘blood tests’ including a complete ‘blood count’, special ‘hemoglobin tests’, and ‘genetic tests’)
(diagnosis may occur before birth through ‘prenatal testing’)
(treatment depends on the type and severity)
(treatment for those with more severe disease often includes regular ‘blood transfusions’, ‘iron chelation’, and ‘folic acid’)
(‘iron chelation’ may be done with ‘deferoxamine’ or ‘deferasirox’)
(occasionally a ‘bone marrow transplant’ may be an option)
(complications may include ‘iron overload’ from the transfusions with resulting ‘heart’ or ‘liver disease’, ‘infections’, and ‘osteoporosis’)
(if the ‘spleen’ becomes overly enlarged ‘surgical removal’ may be required)
(as of 2013 ‘thalassemia’ occurs in about 208 million people with about 4.7 million having severe disease)
(it is most common among people of ‘Italian’, ‘Greek’, ‘Middle Eastern’, ‘South Asian’, and ‘African’ descent)
(males and females have similar rates of disease)
(it resulted in 25,000 deaths in 2013 down from 36,000 deaths in 1990)
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(those who have minor degrees of ‘thalassemia’ – similar to those with ‘sickle-cell trait’ – have some protection against ‘malaria’ explaining why they are more common in regions of the world where ‘malaria’ exists)
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*👨🔬🕵️♀️🙇♀️*SKETCHES*🙇♂️👩🔬🕵️♂️*
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👈👈👈☜*“DISORDERS”* ☞ 👉👉👉
*THE HUMAN CIRCULATORY SYSTEM*
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💕💝💖💓🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤❤️💚💛🧡❣️💞💔💘❣️🧡💛💚❤️🖤💜🖤💙🖤💙🖤💗💖💝💘
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*🌈✨ *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ✨🌷*
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🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥*we won the war* 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥