not just thal with thal

hi guys,
as im a new member i have spent so much time scrolling through and reading the discussions- sooooo  interesting and sooooo informative !!!  i am so armed with knowledge that friends and family are telling me to shut up. :blah

the reason for this message is that throughout many messages i am intrigued to find that topics come up about meeting a minor and chances of having a thal baby, etc. 

Let's just make sure that we know that thal with thal is not the only problem.  i always knew i was a thal minor and so my husband was tested.  he is not a thal minor.  but he has a trait on the abnormal haemoglobin chain(sickle cell trait) that created a beta thal sickle double heterzygote.  so my son christian is now on monthly blood transfusions. 

so all of us who have thal minor children we need to make sure that they are not testing their partners just for thal minor but also for all the other traits with an abnormal haemoglobin.


out of curiosity any other sicklecell or beta thal/sickleblah blah blah out there.??

Cheers
Vic
 

as im a new member i have spent so much time scrolling through and reading the discussions- sooooo  interesting and sooooo informative !!!  i am so armed with knowledge that friends and family are telling me to shut up

Hi Vic,
I think it is great, to be armed with knowledge. We do NOT want to be listening to doctors and NOT having any clue of what he or she is talking about. I see it as a good point. Way to go!!

the reason for this message is that throughout many messages i am intrigued to find that topics come up about meeting a minor and chances of having a thal baby, etc. 

Let's just make sure that we know that thal with thal is not the only problem.  i always knew i was a thal minor and so my husband was tested.  he is not a thal minor.  but he has a trait on the abnormal haemoglobin chain(sickle cell trait) that created a beta thal sickle double heterzygote.  so my son christian is now on monthly blood transfusions. 

so all of us who have thal minor children we need to make sure that they are not testing their partners just for thal minor but also for all the other traits with an abnormal haemoglobin.

You bring up a very good point. The problem is Getting tested, before marriage and/or planning for a family. I have seen even when we try to spread awareness about being tested, people just don't think it is neccessary. I am glad atleast the younger generation is understanding and is ready to get tested, but I have seen the elder people are just NOT ready to get tested(even though they might be helping their family by being tested).

Another point you bring up is being tested for Thal when knowing one is a Thal(Trait). I have seen few cases where even though the tests have been done(Electrophoresis??), it did NOT reveal the real picture. There are some Thals whose Hemoglobin results are muddy(may be due to other factors like Iron levels), although most are clear. I would suggest that if one knows he or she is a Thal, DNA is the best option(although, that is NOT easy for everyone and might have a financial constraint)

There are so many combinations of abnormal Hemoglobin, that it has indeed become a challenge. But, I agree with you and thanks for bringing up this topic.

-Narendra