Newborn Screening for α-Thalassemia — Keeping Up with Globalization

Thalassemias are inherited disorders of hemoglobin synthesis. In α-thalassemia, the biosynthesis of the α-globin subunit of adult hemoglobin, hemoglobin A, is deficient. In β-thalassemia, β-globin synthesis is diminished.1 Among the most common single-gene disorders in humans, thalassemias are a cause of substantial morbidity and mortality in Asia and the Mediterranean basin.2 Symptomatic thalassemia has historically been an uncommon illness in the United States. However, as Lal et al. report in this issue of the Journal, 3 a moderately severe symptomatic form of α-thalassemia, hemoglobin H (HbH) disease, is being encountered with increasing frequency as Asian migration increases to the West Coast . . .