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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffFactors that increase your risk of thalassemia include:
- Family history. Thalassemia is passed from parents to children through defective hemoglobin genes.
- Ancestry. Thalassemia occurs most often in people of Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern, southern Asian and African ancestry. Alpha-thalassemia affects mainly people of Southeast Asian, Chinese and Filipino descent.
References
- What are thalassemias? National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Thalassemia/Thalassemia_All.html. Accessed Nov. 19, 2008.
- Cunningham MJ. Update on thalassemia: Clinical care and complications. Pediatric Clinics of North America. 2008;55:447.
- Benz EJ. Clinical manifestations of the thalassemias. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 10, 2008.
- Schrier SL. Pathophysiology of beta thalassemia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 10, 2008.
- Embury SH. Prenatal testing for the hemoglobinopathies and thalassemias. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 10, 2008.
- Benz EJ. Treatment of beta thalassemia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 10, 2008.
