Will I have one day Hemochromatosis?

Hi, everyone I'm new here and my beta thal minor is also new for me, I have less than three days that I was diagnosed with beta minor. The doctors in the country I live use medicine for their own benefits and i can hardly trust them and in the laboratory where I did the hemoglobin electrophoresis the doctor (hematologist) told me I had thalassemia (beta minor) and she started telling me that it was quite dangerous, next after I gave her money I finally had the time to get more info she told me that I was going to be fine???!!! what am I supposed to think? She prescribed me Iron and folic acid...my iron levels where 35....then she told me that people that have beta minor trait risk for hemochromatosis, is this true? at what age the risks are high of hemochromatosis? Im so stressed and frightened! I dont know what to think and who to trust now....how can I trust doctors for what they say? is there any book I should buy to get more info? I did an abdominal echography and my spleen and liver where ok in size and both of them where homogenous in structure.

Hi Anisa and welcome,

There is no connection between thalassemia and hereditary hemochromatosis, and you normally won't get iron overload from thal minor. However, taking iron when you don't need it can cause iron build up. Folic acid is good. I don't think you should be taking iron. Thal minor is not a dangerous condition. It means you carry the gene for beta thalassemia and if you were to have children with another thal carrier, there would be a chance that child was a thal major, which is a serious condition. It sounds like you're doing fine with normal spleen size. I don't think you should worry at all. If you have questions about thal minor, we have much information here and you should feel free to ask any questions.