Are you anemic? Could your family be unsuspecting carriers of the beta-thalassemia genetic trait?

For years, thalassemia, or Cooley's anemia, was thought to affect only Greek, Italian, Asian, and Sephardic Jewish families. In recent years, it became clear that Ashkenazic Jews also carry the trait and could be at risk for the fatal disease.

Thalassemia (also known as Cooley's anemia or Mediterranean anemia) is well-known to Greek and Italian families and, to a lesser extent, Sephardic Jews. However, it is almost unknown in Ashkenazic Jews. (In Israel, where there is mass pre-natal screening for beta-thalassemia, fewer than ten Ashkenazic families have been identified as carriers.) This rarity creates a potentially dangerous scenario for Ashkenazic families with
			I want to alert all unsuspecting Ashkenazic carriers - in and outside my family. This is the most urgent aspect because the beta-thalassemia genetic trait is not usually found unless physicians are looking for it. Stanley M. Diamond, Project Director
unsuspecting carriers. The thalassemia genetic trait (thalassemia minor) does not affect carriers themselves.

	There is a one in four chance that the offspring of two carriers will inherit thalassemia disease (thalassemia major), which -- until quite recently -- was always fatal by early adulthood.			There is a one in four chance that the offspring of two carriers will inherit thalassemia disease (thalassemia major), which -- until quite recently -- was always fatal by early adulthood. It rremains a deadly disease. With the growing rate of intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews, as well as the increased frequency of Ashkenazic-Sephardic marriages, there is an ever-increasing risk of this devastating disease occurring in an unaware Ashkenazic population.

Featured Stories:

	Click the image for details of IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award.

• Stanley M. Diamond is awarded the IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award. (August 2002) 

• Beta-Thalassemia Project and Jewish Records Indexing - Poland projects featured in The Yiddish Forward article. (August 2002)

• "Historical index of Polish Jewry stemmed from genetic disorder study." Jewish Telegraphic Agency article. (July 2002)

• "How I Traced the Beta Thalassemia Trait" Avotaynu, The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Volume XXII, Number 4, Winter 2006. (Used with permission of the publisher)
  

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