May 8 marks International Thalassemia day every year. The day is observed to spread awareness about the rare blood-related medical condition. This genetic condition causes the body to have less hemoglobin than normal. Hemoglobin allows the red blood cells to carry oxygen in our blood. Thalassemia can also cause conditions such as anemia.
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International Thalassemia Day was established in 1994 by the International Thalassemia Federation (TIF), which has been working in a united alliance with the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1996 to conduct various awareness-raising activities on the annual occasion. There are several misconceptions and false information associated with this rare blood disease. Let’s take a look at a few:
- Thalassemia patients are often exhausted and dull
This may sound like a fact related to the medical condition, but it is not true. Affected patients receive optimal medical care, they can overcome fatigue due to anemia and lead normal healthy lives even into adulthood. - Parents with thalassemia will always have children with the disease
Although thalassemia is a genetic condition, it is not certain that the child will inherit the condition. Only when both parents carry the hemoglobin-bound genes associated with the condition is there a 25 percent chance that the child will be born with thalassemia. When only one parent has defective genes, the condition of thalassemia is not passed on to the child. - Thalassemia cannot be cured
This statement is also incorrect, as treatments such as bone marrow transplantation have been seen as an effective cure for thalassemia patients. However, the procedure is advanced and prone to complications and health risks. It is also quite expensive. - Thalassemia cannot be treated with therapy
Those with thalassemia can live healthy lives if they are provided with advanced medical treatment, adequate blood transfusions, and iron chelation therapy. These recovery procedures involve step costs.
Donate your blood to blood banks to support such treatments for patients with thalassemia.
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