Question

Will medal!!
I don't think this falls under biology but I really need help on this :(

The following is an excerpt from the case study "It's All Greek to Me," where Dr. Williams is explaining Nikoleta's disease to her parents:

Answer 1

"You both have a much milder form of anemia. Unfortunately, Nikoleta's condition is more severe. Nikoleta has what is known as beta-thalassemia, which is also called Cooley's anemia…there are two types of hemoglobin proteins involved in the process of carrying oxygen, alpha and beta. You need both of them in order to have properly working hemoglobin. Nikoleta's beta proteins don't function correctly."

If it were possible to treat Nikoleta's anemia with a blood transfusion, what component of the blood would she most benefit from, and whom should the blood transfusion come from? Explain.

Answer 2

ok..so basically do u know what is thalassemia?

Answer 3

no :( they didn't talk about it in my class

Answer 4

http://www.healthline.com/health/thalassemia#Treatments5
see this

Answer 5

Ok, so according to the link you gave @shrutipande9 , it looks like they would recommend blood transfusions for her type of thalassemia. But what kind of blood?

Answer 6

umm..see basically in this case Beta gene is mutated so she must be transfused with blood which has functional beta domain of hemaglobin..

Answer 7

Those with severe cases of beta thalassemia major, on the other hand, may require regular blood transfusions their entire lives to keep them healthy. During blood transfusions, they're given blood from donors with matching blood types. Over time, this can cause a build-up of iron in the body, so kids who receive frequent blood transfusions may have to take medications to remove excess iron from their bodies.

Answer 8

source- http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/beta_thalassemia.html#