Thalassaemia (also known as Mediterranean Anemia or Microcitemia) is an inherited anemia caused by poor functioning of the bone marrow, the tissue that produces blood cells.
The thalassaemic bone marrow produces smaller red cells that contain less haemoglobin (red cell component responsible for oxygen transportation in our body), which causes anemia. Thalassaemia is not a contagious disease and it is not caused by deficiencies in the diet nor vitamin or mineral absence.
The term Thalassaemia comes from the combination of the Greek words thalassa = sea and emas = blood. By using this word, doctors wanted to describe a blood disease whose origin lies in countries by the sea, more specifically the Mediterranean Sea, such as Italy and Greece.
Today the disease is spread all over the world. High percentages of
thalassaemic patients are found in Canada, United States, Brazil, Argentina,
India, Australia, etc.
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