“Hi everyone. My name is Yuan Wu. And I am have thalassemia.”
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Sounds like I’ve got cancer and is appearing before the TV to appeal for donations, no?
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Nope, I don’t have cancer or anything like that… yet (scary to think that everyone has a chance to get cancer). I have thalassemia. I look normal, don’t I. (Eh, i’m still normal, OK!)
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What the h*ll is thalassemia, you say. Thalassemia a a genetic disorder that is very common in Chinese. It is estimated that 1/20 Malaysians have some sort of thalassemia trait. It is also called Cooley’s anemia This statistic means you definitely know someone with thalassemia trait, or you have it. So don’t tell me you don’t know, don’t care, don’t give a damn. You don’t want to “sang1 chai2 mo1 see2 fatt4″.
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Lets start by talking about haemoglobin, the stuff that carries oxygen in our red blood cells. Haemoglobin is made of 4 parts — 2 alpha and 2 beta. We have 4 locations in our genes that make the alpha and 2 locations that make beta.
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The problem arises when you have one or more of these faulty genes at those locations. So, of you have a faulty alpha gene, you have alpha thalassemia. And likewise for beta.
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And there are many severity of thalassemia. If one of the alpha locations or part of one beta locations in your gene is kaput punya, then you only have thalassemia trait. You simply look normal. You are a carrier. You may and may not pass the gene to your children. If you have a 2 or more faulty genes, that you would not have live to my age to read this blog.
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You cannot donate blood because your blood is not complete.
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Therefore, by using the power of blog… I hereby urge everyone who reads this blog: cepat-cepat go to a clinic or lab and have a thorough blood check. Ask the fella to check for blood disorder too e.g thalassemia. If you have a boy-boy or girl-girl, take them along to the clinic. If both of you have thalassemia trait, you may create a child that will depend on blood transfusion for all his life. Or the baby may not live to remember you. To quote Puah Chu Kang, don’t pray-pray. This is as bad as “sang1 chai2 mo1 see2 fatt4″.
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Also, do visit this site for more info cooleysanemia.org. Or you can leave me a message so I can’t send you a few documents about thalassemia.
Yours Sincerely,
the THalassmia carrier.
