Cooley's anemia and Mediterranean anemia-Thalassemia Symptoms, Causes, Treatment & Cure‎

Thalassemia major is also called Cooley's anemia and Mediterranean anemia. It is found in people with ancestry tracing to northern Africa, southern Europe, and such Asian areas as Iran, Iraq, Indonesia, Thailand, and southern China. It is a serious disease which starts in early life. In addition to the usual symptoms of anemia plus the jaundice of the hemolytic type, there is enlargement of liver and spleen. During the course of it, there may develop leg ulcers, gallstones, and a type of heart failure that is resistant to therapy. In thalassemia minor, the anemia is mild and the outlook very good.

Life span is normal. Usually no treatment is needed except possibly in pregnancy when blood transfusion may be used to keep the blood hemoglobin level at a safe point for the sake of mother and child. There are many other types of anemia, relatively rare, in which some slight abnormality of chemical structure of hemoglobin is the basic fault. Usually, when such anemias are suspected, study by a specialist in blood diseases, a hematologist, is needed. Other types of hemolytic anemia which usually require attention of a blood specialist for diagnosis and follow-up are autoimmune hemolytic anemia, ovalocytosis, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, and prima equine-sensitive hemolytic anemia.

The latter disease, which occurs in 10 to 15 percent of black males and 1 to 2 per- cent of black females, involves an unusual sensitivity to certain medications and chemicals; it usually clears up as soon as the offending substances are eliminated. Plastic Anemia Since blood cells are manufactured in the bone marrow; anemia may result when the marrow is damaged and becomes sluggish or fails to function at all. In this type of anemia, not only are red blood cells reduced in numbers; so, too, are the whitecells. Resistance to infections is thus reduced, too.

Blood platelet count drops as well and thus there may be bleeding. When aplastic anemia is severe, the outlook is grave. The mortality rate may go as high as 50 percent. With good treatment, the remaining 50 per- cent sometimes do quite well and, fortunately, in some cases, the disease clears up spontaneously. Aplastic anemia may be a result of sensitivity or toxic reaction to many medications and chemicals, including chloromycetin, Butazolidin, Mesantoin, benzene, hair dyes, volatile solvents, and insecticides. Irradiation in large doses also may be responsible.