Thalassemia trait and asthma

I'm only 14 and I recently found out I have Thalassemia trait after doing a blood test. I don't fully understand what Thalassemia is and stuff so I thought this forum might help.

I read on wikipedia that Thalassemia minor often coexists with diseases such as asthma. I've been noticing for a while that I have trouble breathing sometimes after a run and playing sport intensely. There is a shortness of breath and my chest/throat feels funny.

I use to use a puffer when I was around 5 and my mum said it was for coughing and asthma. She then said I don't have asthma anymore? I'm not entirely sure about that.

Do you think I may have asthma?

Hi justxlouise,

to the site!

Asthma can happen to anyone but Thals. are more prone to it due to reduced oxygen carrying capability of our blood.

Your doctor can give you a better picture of it by taking a look at your blood counts. Try asking for a Hemoglobin and Serum Ferritin test. If the results are low then taking Iron supplements will help you in this regard. On the other hand if the S.F test is high then avoid Iron and take the asthma medicine that your doctor might prescribe.

Hope that you'll get well soon.

Hi Justxlouise and welcome to our group,

What you described sounds like exercise induced asthma. Often the easiest solution is to take one or two puffs from the inhaler (albuterol) before exercise. This will often relieve the symptoms that are brought on by the exercise.

Asthma can disappear and return later in life (it happened to me) and it also can happen that normally you won't show any symptoms until you are active. Talk to your doctor about using an inhaler before exercise. If this doesn't help, it may be that because you have reached your body's limits that are less than average because of thal minor. Taking folic acid supplements may help some but you may have to learn to stay within your limits. Tennis star, Pete Sampras, is also a thal minor and after retirement he admitted that his endurance was limited by thal minor, so his tactics were to finish off his opponents as quickly as possible in order to conserve his energy. Testing your hematocrit or hemoglobin level can help you know how much thal minor is affecting you.

From what I've read from my blood test, my Haemoglobin blood count is 113 and my Haematocrit is 0.37? I don't understand it o__o

And I also have slight lymphopenia, whatever that is.