3 - Test 'spots blood disease danger'

"BBC NEWS | Health | Test 'spots blood disease danger'" 2 Oct. 2009. Web. 04 Oct. 2009. .

This article was about Thalassemia, and new ways to predict and prevent heart failure in those individuals who have this issue. Thalassemia is an inherited disorder of the blood system, in which there is a lack of hemoglobin or an abnormality in the hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is an essential protein of the blood, and can be found on the the erythrocytes, also known as the red blood cells. Hemoglobin allows oxygen to bind to itself and as a result carries oxygen from the lungs tot he rest of the body.

Those with Thalassemia, since having a lack of hemoglobin and therefore lack of proper oxygen, will experience breathlessness and lethargy. As a results, those diagnosed with Thalassemia might have anywhere from 2 to 3 blood transfusion every month. During this blood transfusion, the patient will receive new blood, which contains 250mL of iron, along with drugs that will help lower the levels of iron in the blood. The reason they do this is because Thalassemia patients have abnormally high levels of iron in the blood, this iron then deposits within the heart and eventually can turn into "rust". When the patient is then sent for an MRI scan the physician will be able to see a lot of iron in their heart. There is a direct correlation between the amount of iron present in the heart and a patients likelihood to develop heart failure. The more iron present, the more likely the patient is to have heart failure.