How to screen for thalassemia before pregnancy

Anemia is a disease that everyone is familiar with, but not many people know about thalassemia, and people always think that thalassemia is contagious, so they have a fear of this disease. Is thalassemia contagious? In fact, thalassemia is a disease that endangers physical and mental health. So do you know how to do pre-pregnancy check-ups to prevent thalassemia?

Thalassemia is only inherited and not contagious.

According to experts, thalassemia is caused by a genetic defect and is not contagious. Normal people have two sets of hemoglobin genes, one set from the mother and the other from the father. If one of your parents has this gene in their hemoglobin, you may develop thalassemia. Therefore, thalassemia is only hereditary and not contagious.

What is the difference between Mediterranean blood and normal blood?

Although both are called anemia, there is a huge difference between these two diseases. Thalassemia is caused by a gene defect. Mild cases will not cause great impact on the body, but severe cases may require lifelong treatment, regular blood transfusions or iron removal treatments. General anemia is caused by a lack of iron, which leads to a decrease in hemoglobin and iron levels. Appropriate iron supplementation is sufficient.

What are the chances of passing on thalassemia to children?

If one of the parents is a thalassemia patient, their child has a 50% chance of becoming a thalassemia patient; if both parents are thalassemia patients, their child will only have a 25% chance of being a normal person, a 50% chance of becoming a mild thalassemia patient, and a 25% chance of becoming a severe thalassemia patient.

Now everyone knows the answer to whether thalassemia is hereditary. If you or your loved one suffers from thalassemia, you must do a prenatal check-up before getting pregnant. It is the wisest choice to let a professional doctor help you conceive a healthy baby.

Can thalassemia in pregnant women be cured?

Thalassemia is mainly treated with prevention. Mild asymptomatic cases do not require treatment, while severe thalassemia requires hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Without hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, patients can only rely on blood transfusions and long-term use of iron-removing agents to maintain life. Iron-removing agents must be used at the same time. Even so, long-term blood transfusions will cause more and more iron to be deposited in organs such as the liver and spleen, causing these organs to fail and leading to the patient's death. And hematopoiesis

Hepatocyte transplantation also carries considerable risks.

Mild thalassemia does not require special treatment, while intermediate and severe thalassemia can be treated with blood transfusion and iron chelation. In daily life, pay attention to rest and nutrition to actively prevent infection, and appropriately supplement folic acid and vitamin E.

Finally, the editor needs to remind women to pay attention to blood pressure checks before and during pregnancy. Pregnant women with severe thalassemia should pay special attention. If examination confirms that the fetus has severe thalassemia, it is best to perform an artificial abortion and terminate the pregnancy. If the test results show that the fetus' genes are normal or that it has mild thalassemia, you can continue the pregnancy and give birth with peace of mind.