Cooley's Anemia
By: Anna Marie Motto
Description
Also known as Thalassemia Major, is a blood disorder that affects red blood cells' ability to produce hemoglobin that begins in early childhood and is inherited from the parents.
Causes/Complications
Complications cause the body to work harder than normal:
- iron overload
- infection
- bone deformities
- enlarged spleen
- slowed growth rate
- heart problems
Causes harm to the body:
- mutated genes
- anemic
- fatigued
Testing/Treatments
Depending on the age, health, history, extent, tolerance, expectations, and opinion of each individual patient;
Testing:
- full red blood cell count
Treatment:
- many transfusions
- medication
- splenectomy
- daily doses of folic acid
- removal of gallbladder
- checks heart and liver
- iron supplements
Prevention/Life outlook
Depending on the severity of each case the outlook could be:
- healthy and normal or
- slow and jaundice
Prevention would only to be to test each parent:
- before the child is born