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Thalassaemia

Thalassaemia · Talasémie

What it is

Underproduction of a globin chain; marrow expands and iron overloads.

Symptoms & signs

  • Severe anaemia from infancy
  • bone deformity
  • growth failure
  • enlarged spleen
  • iron overload from transfusions

🚩 Get help if…

  • call 112 / 911 now Fever over 38 °C after spleen removal
  • call 112 / 911 now Chest pain, fainting or breathlessness at rest
  • see a doctor soon Getting paler and more tired between transfusions
  • see a doctor soon Racing or irregular heartbeat or swollen ankles

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • Regular transfusions
  • iron chelation (deferasirox)
  • luspatercept
  • splenectomy
  • stem-cell transplant
  • betibeglogene gene therapy (Zynteglo) — US-approved 2022; withdrawn from the EU market by its maker
  • exagamglogene (Casgevy), CRISPR BCL11A editing — approved 2024 (FDA, EMA)

Natural & lifestyle

  • Avoid iron supplements
  • vitamin C with chelation only as advised
  • calcium and vitamin D
  • infection precautions after splenectomy

Emerging & experimental

  • Mitapivat

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Green tea and curcumin as mild iron chelators — small studies early / small studies
  • Wheatgrass juice — small studies of fewer transfusions early / small studies
  • Cutting iron-rich foods — sensible, modest help anecdotal / traditional

ICD codes