1. Thalassemia is a term that was created from two Greek words thalassa (sea) and haema (blood). Thus, Thalassemia literally means seablood because many people who are in the Meditarrenean Sea have the disease called Thalassemia.
2. Thalassemia is a condition that affects the hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that is used in delivering oxygen all throughout the body. Thus, any defect in hemoglobin results into Thalassemia.
3. Thalassemia trait or Thalassemia minor is a Thalassemia condition where one of the two beta globin fails to produce hemoglobin. Worse condition than Thalassemia trait is the Thalassemia major where both beta hemoglobin don't produce hemoglobin. The condition between Thalassemia trait and Thalassemia major is the Thalassemia intermedia.
4. Thalassemia trait, or Thalassemia in general, may have been developed in areas where malaria is prevalent. The reason for this is that Thalassemia causes red blood cells easy to disintegrate and this disintegration protects people from malaria. Thus, it may have been a sort of survival mechanism for people living in malaria infested regions. Population with Thalassemia trait, or Thalassemia in general, are high in areas that are humid and infested with malaria.
5. Thalassemia trait is not a harsh condition. More focus is given to people with Thalassemia intermedia and Thalassemia major.
So, those are some information that I discovered about Thalassemia trait. I never knew that there is such condition and according to Wikipedia, there are millions of people that have Thalassemia trait and the other forms of Thalassemia. Some people don't know that they have Thalassemia trait. Now, this make me wonder, how many of my friends have Thalassemia trait.
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Information about Thalassemia trait obtained from Wikipedia and Thal Inheritance.
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