A question about haemoglobin and testing for thalassaemia

[Dilbertian]

Twenty years ago there was a concern over my iron levels during pregnancy. I had symptoms of anaemia even though my iron levels were within normal range. I cannot remember the exact results of the blood tests, other than the phrase "cannot rule out thalassaemia trait" and that there was something out of the ordinary about my haemoglobin. I took iron supplements and I was fine and my babies were fine.

Dh was tested at the same time, in case we were carrying some genetic issue that we might pass on, and was told that he had bog-standard haemoglobin. I think they may have said he had 'Haemoglobin A'.

Anyone know what tests they would have been doing? What could have been non-standard about my haemoglobin?

Anybody?

A morning bump for you.

If you don't get any responses, have you tried joining the relevant Facebook groups? Health-wise they have been a fountain of knowledge & very supportive. Once you find the right groups!

Or Health Unlocked? Not sure they have a specific thalassaemia group, but searches might help.

healthunlocked.com/tag/thalassaemia

Good luck

I don't do Facebook, but it's a good idea to look for Thalassaemia support groups.

My children have E trait that was picked up on their heel prick tests when they were babies and i think I t’s smaller sized red blood cells and something to do with their Indian ancestry apparently. Dd has been slightly anaemia but I was told it’s not much to worry about unless they meet someone with the same trait and want to have children. Do you think this might be what you have? www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=hemoglobin-e-trait-160-12

I believe all pregnant women are now tested for haemoglobinopathies (sickle cell, Hb C, E etc) and thalassemia. If certain things are found their partners are then also tested . Just testing for your haemoglobin level would not show if you have Beta thalassemia trait ( meaning you have inherited it from one of your parents) or not. You need a Full blood count and a special blood test to measure the small quantity of haemoglobin A2 present which is slightly higher in Beta thalassemia trait than normal..

    Having  Beta thalassemia  trait  is not usually  a cause  for  any concern,  only  if your  partner  has it too and you  produce  babies who inherent  it from both  parents. 

Plenty of people are tested who are not pregnant. If you have any worries ask your doctor about it and ask to be tested.
It is very interesting to see how these differences carry through families, particularly as very often they do not affect the general health of the person, who often doesn't know they have it.

Yes, Haemoglobin A is the normal one, Haemoglobin A2 also present in a very small amount normally.

Sickle Cell disease? common amongst afro-carribeans or any groups who live in Malaria prevalent areas.. Sickle cell traits can be inherited if both parents are carriers, hence why dh was tested as well?

Blood Genotypes:
AS =Sickle cell disease carrier, no symptoms
AA = No trait of Sickle cell, disease free
SS= Sickle cell disease present.

Parent 1 & Parent 2 = Possible blood types inherited by children:
AA & AA = AA
AA & AS = AA/AS
AS & AS = AA/AS (sickle cell carrier)/SS (sick cell disease)
AA & SS = AS
AS & SS = AS/SS
SS & SS = SS

Theres a proper diagram which I cant draw here which shows the above better but this gives a good idea. Might explain what they were checking for.

The OP seems to be asking about thalassemia, not sickle cell.??

Perhaps it should be pointed out that when A is mentioned in this , it is nothing to do with Blood Group A.
The OP may find her Doctor still has her result from when she was tested before and that she doesn't need testing again.
Might be interesting to see if any children have inherited her trait.

Glad my memory is not entirely deficient! I wonder why they could not identify my type of haemoglobin. Was the technology just not there yet 20y ago?

Definitely not sickle cell. Apart from not tolerating low-normal iron, I have had no problems that I know of, until now. I'm being investigated for constant fatigue and breathlessness. It didn't occur to me that I might be anaemic, and it didn't occur to me to mention that issue I had during pregnancies. I wonder whether it may be relevant.

@Frankley I didn't say @op was asking about Sickle cell, I asked 'if' it could be testing for Sickle cell? common amongst people of certain ethnic group. The thread says:
Anyone know what tests they would have been doing? What could have been non-standard about my haemoglobin?

If it is thalassemia, it is different from "" identifying a haemoglobin ^. There will not be a sort like S, C, etc.and nothing to identify.
Another sort of thalassemia is alpha thalassemia, but Beta is more common in England due to our population.

I have thalassaemia trait that was identified during my first pregnancy (also 20 years ago) and like you DH was tested and had normal blood results so there were no concerns for the pregnancy.

My recollection is hazy but as I recall they carried out routine blood tests which showed that I had a large number of small red blood cells. Small red blood cells can indicate anaemia but for whatever reason it was determined that it was more likely to be a thalassaemia trait. I now know to request a ferritin test whenever I have regular blood tests as that should show whether I am anaemic.

There are certain links between thalassaemia and your ancestry - it is inherited and more common among certain groups (from memory alpha trait is more common among eastern Asians, while beta trait is more common among Mediterranean populations). I think I have beta trait but I have no clear Mediterranean ancestry (all my known ancestors are north European) so it’s unusual that I should have this.

I have no idea which parent I inherited this from. My younger son was tested as part of his heel prick test in 2006 (negative result) but the equivalent test on my oldest in 2003 did not include a test for thalassaemia trait to the best of my knowledge.

There are certain links between thalassaemia and your ancestry - it is inherited and more common among certain groups (from memory alpha trait is more common among eastern Asians, while beta trait is more common among Mediterranean populations). I think I have beta trait but I have no clear Mediterranean ancestry (all my known ancestors are north European) so it’s unusual that I should have this.

Same here. You have reminded me that it was beta, and I was considered at tail because I am Jewish - technically E Mediterranean, though actually E European for multiple generations.