Thalassemia

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Risk factors

By Mayo Clinic staff

Factors that increase your risk of thalassemia include:

  • Family history of thalassemia. Thalassemia is passed from parents to children through mutated hemoglobin genes. If you have a family history of thalassemia, you may have an increased risk of the condition.
  • Certain ancestry. Thalassemia occurs most often in people of Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern, Asian and African ancestry.
Complications Causes

  • See Also

    • Hand Scheduled
    Section Focus
  • Anemia

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References
  1. What are thalassemias? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Thalassemia/Thalassemia_All.html. Accessed Dec. 30, 2010.
  2. Giardina PJ, et al. Thalessemia syndromes. In: Hoffman R, et al. Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06715-0..X5001-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-443-06715-0&uniqId=230100505-56. Accessed Dec. 30, 2010.
  3. Mueller BU. Prenatal testing for the hemoglobinopathies and thalassemias. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 3, 2011.
DS00905 Feb. 4, 2011

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