A minor advantage

Hi all,

I just wanted to let you all know that there is a minor advantage in having thal. We are resistant to the malarial parasite. I found some info that I am pasting below. Small advantage this! I'd rather have the malaria than this nasty thing! 

If thal was a football, I would have kicked it out of the universe,
If thal was goliath, I would have been david,
If thal was medusa, I would be perseus!

Post:

In 1949, Haldane suggested a selective advantage for survival in individuals with the thalassemia trait in regions where malaria is endemic. He argued that lethal RBC disorders such as thalassemia, sickle cell disease, and G-6-PD deficiency are present almost exclusively in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The incidence of these genetic mutations in a certain population thus reflects the balance between the premature death of homozygotes and the increased fitness of heterozygotes.
For instance, in b thalassemia, the frequency of the gene is greater than 1% in the Mediterranean Basin, India, Southeast Asia, North Africa, and Indonesia; it is very uncommon in other parts of the world. a thalassemia may be the most common single gene disorder in the world (5-10% in the Mediterranean, 20-30% in West Africa, approximately 68% in the South Pacific); however, the gene prevalence in Northern Europe and Japan is less than 1%.
The mechanism of protection against malaria is not clear. Hb F in cells has been demonstrated to retard the growth of the malaria parasite, and, by virtue of its high level in infants with b thalassemia trait, the fatal cerebral malaria known to kill infants in these areas may be prevented. The RBCs of patients with Hb H disease have also shown a suppressive effect on the growth of the parasites. This effect is not observed in a thalassemia trait.

Taken from emedicine


Regards,
Namitha

Hi Namitha,

I'm not sure about this as I had suffered from Malaria when I was in school. However I fought it amazingly where other people fail and feel low and down; I was up and active (Like always when ever I get serious health issues - recall my platelet episode), anyway, I was feeling great except that I started vomiting every now and then and this annoyed me a lot and when I got checked I was burning with 104^OF fever and still singing a song as if nothing was wrong with me. Further blood tests revealed that I was suffering from Malra.

Maybe there is a truth in your article or it's just my strong will power that keeps me kicking.

I did the Malaria medical course and was fine later on.

Take care, Peace.

Namitha is correct.  We are not supposed to be able to get Malaria.  That's supposedly how Thalassemia evolved. 

When I was in nursing school, and taking Microbiology, we determined that Malaria was unable to live in the human body with a low hemoglobin.  Since Malaria was a very known and widespread illness in the Mediterranean many years ago, it was hypothesized that this particular gene mutated to protect its hosts.  I don't know if it's true or not, but this is what the hypothesis unveiled.   

No matter the reason, I do know that we are not supposed to be capable of getting it.  As a matter of fact, when I had my appendectomy back in 1992, they even put me in a room with a girl who had Malaria, because the doctors knew I couldn't get it.   

Namitha is correct  absolutly correct and that what i read a bout it also in medical scince talking a bout this desise and thalas. also i ask many many many DRs. all over the world ((AM A PILOT  )) every time i go to any country i go to some hospital who taking care for thalass. and ask a bout the consultant who he involve with thalassimic PpL ...  because when i had my son ABDULWAHAB i was lost i don't know what should i do with him and how i protect him a ginst any desise ...so i think it's good advantage for us ....
                 
                              khalifa
                         sate of kuwait

Hi Danielle,

Glad to know that you are well and posting. So, are all those medical issues with you settled out?

Namitha is correct.  We are not supposed to be able to get Malaria.  That's supposedly how Thalassemia evolved.

Well, I got a really twisted physique. I don't know really what's wrong with me 

Take care, Peace!

So, are all those medical issues with you settled out?

Not in the least bit. 

hi guys....

stupid question.... is it true/possible that from frequent transfusing,a person can build certain immunities to certain bacterial/viral infections? can you gain that persons immunity?
also, an even bigger stupid question..... when you get transfused, do u have all of those different peoples dna information also??? how can the drs differentiate someones REAL blood type from those who are "foreign?"

Great Question!

I'm not sure about the first part of the question, it is possible.

Well DNA is present in the nucleus of a cell. Red Blood cells don't have a nucleus. Maybe that's why they don't live long and duplicate to eliminate the need of TX.

Wow, think of your question again and I'm glad that GOD didn't put a nucleus on it. If it were present but still malfunctioned due to bad genes on it and we still required TX; but in that case your concern about the DNA forensic would be definitely valid and we might have no proof of our own identity due to different DNA RBCs ! :confused

I wonder how do they tell us about the DNA from blood if there is no nucleus on RBC, maybe they use other cells like White Blood Cells which have a nucleus?

Andy, your expertise is required!

Take care, Peace!

There has been speculation that transfused blood can offer some immunities and there is some evidence that something happens in the body, but studies have not been done. During the flu outbreak of 1918, transfusions from those who had been exposed to the flu but did not succumb were tried as a preventative, and there was some improvement in survival rates of those who got that deadly flu.

From http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000E3412-B339-14F4-B07583414B7F4945

Transfusions were also tried in the 1918 flu pandemic but hadn't been studied extensively, so U.S. military and biotech researchers searched the medical literature published between 1918 and 1925 for reports of the treatment. Those who received blood transfusions were 21 percent more likely to survive a case of influenza-induced pneumonia than those who didn't receive the treatment, they found in a survey of eight studies. Of 336 total people treated, 16 percent died from the pneumonia compared with 37 percent of those in control groups. Of the treated individuals, those who had received a transfusion within the first three days of contracting pneumonia were 41 percent more likely to survive than those treated afterward.

"Our analysis suggests that patients with Spanish influenza pneumonia who received transfusion…may have experienced a clinically important reduction in the risk for death and improvements in clinical signs and symptoms," the researchers report in a paper published online August 29 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. "Our findings are provocative, but our review has important limitations," they point out. The old studies were small and poorly done by current standards.

Nevertheless, "the concept is important and it should be explored further, especially given our lack of proven interventions to prevent or treat illness due to H5N1 influenza," writes John Treanor of the University of Rochester in an accompanying editorial. Serum from recovered patients would be technically simple to prepare and presumably in ample supply, he says, although researchers don't know if those who recover from H5N1 produce copious antibodies. He notes that "controlled clinical studies done now will probably pay a considerable dividend when the pandemic begins."

From http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12216948&dopt=Abstract

...the clinical effects of transfusion-induced cellular immunity are virtually unknown. Although alterations in lymphocyte responses and natural killer cell functions after blood transfusion has been reported in many publications, the relevance of these in ... immunity are lacking.

There may be anecdotal evdience that some immunities are transferred, but more reserach needs to be done to see if there is a connection. Interestingly, the military has been investigating the use of antibodies as a possible defense against biological weapons. It is believed that the immunities developed by those who have some resistance, could be injected into others to provide resistance to substances such as anthrax.

I don't think it's a dumb question at all. This is the subject of serious investigation, even if it isn't being studied for purposes of traditional disease control. What is learned could have value in other areas. It's nice to think that with everything else that seems to work against thals, that this might be an area where thals find some benefit from the additional immunities. I do think that using leukocyte filtered blood (white cells removed) would greatly reduce the amount of immunities given with the blood.

If having the DNA of another person in your bloodstream meant you would have their DNA info, I imagine it would create chaos in the body. It might mean the body would suddenly create its own good red blood cells, but it also might mean the body creating all sorts of things from the foreign DNA. I don't think it has anymore effect than consuming foods which also have their own DNA.

And Sajid is correct. DNA testing is done using the white blood cells.

This question also brings up something we've discussed before, and that is what effect, if any, is there from hormones in the donated blood? Does this affect the behavior and/or the physiology of the blood recipient? Many thals I have talked to seem to think that something does happen and that there are some subtle changes after a transfusion. This is something that we all would like to hear more about.

what sort of subtle changes Andy?
Because if lauryn grows a mustache... so help me...

Christine

In our previous discussion there was some talk about sudden appetites for certain foods, for example. There is also some belief that the hormones in donated blood can affect moods, or one's likes and dislikes. We touched on some of this in a related discussion about eating according to blood type at

http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php?topic=290.0

I think we may have had some discussion at our MSN group about this too. It is all anecdotal and there is no proven scientific basis for it...yet.

Mustache...hmmm...anyone suddenly grow hair on their back? We'd have a fortune on our hands selling baldness treatments..and I might just be first in line for that special "hairy" blood. 

Mustache...hmmm...anyone suddenly grow hair on their back? We'd have a fortune on our hands selling baldness treatments..and I might just be first in line for that special "hairy" blood. 

:lmao2 lolup

I wish that was true. I really need blood that makes me look old. A hairy one might just do the trick

     My idea was to have a weekly TV show about someone with thal. The start of the show would have a human body showing the inside with all the veins and the blood pumping all over, and some cool music. Then the story would be about what happens after the main charactor goes in for her monthly transfusion. Each time she changes and becomes like the person whose blood she's received. She doesn't know what will happen, but all of a sudden she starts acting different and doing things that don't make sense to her. Then of course it takes the whole hour to figure out whose blood she has, and why she's doing the things she is doing, and then there's some big dramatic climax. After 4 weeks, her hemoglobin starts to drop back down, and she becomes her old self again. ready for more blood and another adventure (next week's show). There are a lot of possibilities for writing scripts.
     I think this would be a great show. There are many issues that could be dealt with about blood and thalassemia. Of course it is fiction and doesn't portray things as they are, but there could be something at the beginning of each show which would give real information about thalassemia and its treatment, and then tell that the rest of the story is fiction. Any writers out there?  This could be a way to raise money for a cure. Jean

Well, people might think that this fiction is true and think we all are like some mutant character that can change personality (Incredible Hulk).

That would be great for entertainment and we could use the earnings for research regardless of what the world thinks about us. They will get entertainment for which they come for, but we won't be able to portray the message with fiction unless there is some twist in the story and tells the REAL thing about Thal. and how it can be cured if all people dig in.

Take care, Peace!

Jean!

I think that is a FANTASTIC idea!~ And believe it or not my husbands godfather is a screenwriter in New York.I dont know if you have ever heard of Spike Lee?? The director? Well, my husbands godfather has direct connections with him and his production company. Could you imagine if this could work? hmmmmmm 

Christine