difference between thal minor and thal trait

Will someone out there please tell me the difference between thal minor and thal trait? 
thanks, angie

Thal minor is often also referred to as thal trait. It means that only one of the two beta hemoglobin genes carry the thal trait. Some intermedias also carry just one thal gene, but their condition is severe enough to be classified intermedia. Recently, trait has sometimes been referred to as a minor with few if any symptoms, whereas if there are significant symptoms, it is called thal minor.

This is a good demonstration of the vagueness of thal classifications. The classifications were originally based on the amount and severity of symptoms, but with the DNA testing available today, these classifications have been modified to some extent, leading to even more confusion.

The classifications were originally based on the amount and severity of symptoms, but with the DNA testing available today, these classifications have been modified to some extent, leading to even more confusion.

and I'm glad the confusion is getting over and it's being settled with more proper diagnosis for every type.

Take care, Peace!

I hope such testing is also available here in our place, it is available in Metro Manila (capital city of our country) I guess but it's too expensive. 

Thanks to all that replied.  That really cleared things up.  My daughter's pediatrician initially told me that Jaz had thal minor, but yesterday he called it thal trait.  However, I do take both of those diagnoses with a grain of salt because she has only had a cbc and chemistries done with her blood samples.  Thank you all for your input and Andy you are very informative.  Please keep up the good work. 
Thank, Angie

Dear Angie

i want to point out some important facts about blood tests based on my expierence. When i did the bloood electrophoresis test at the begining. It showed that my son is a beta thal trait and what made the confusion is that he doesn't have any clinical symptoms. My hematologist wasn't convienced with this because his spleen was enlarged and his HB is 6.6 which is very low for a trait or a minor. So later we did the HPLC test ( a test like blood electrophoresis but little bit more accurate) and we did the DNA test. The doctor was right because the DNA showed a muted silent gene. That is why he is classified as an intermedia and not a minor thal. So he has two defaulted genes, one appeared in the blood elect. and the other appeared only in the DNA test. That is why as Andy said DNA tests sometimes are very important at least in the case of silent genes

Manal

Dear Manal, thank you for your input.  I plan on taking my daughter to a hematologist as soon as I can find one that treats thal in Texas.  Thanks, Angie