The severity of thalassemia can be judged comprehensively through symptoms, serological examination, genetic testing, and imaging tests.
1. Symptoms: Most of the symptoms of mild thalassemia are light or without abnormality, which can be manifested as mild fatigue and dizziness, while severe thalassemia can be manifested as severe fatigue and weakness, jaundice, enlarged liver and spleen, dysplasia, edema, osteoporosis, and even life-threatening.
2. Serological examination: through the test of hemoglobin, we can initially understand the severity of anemia, serum iron, serum ferritin concentration, etc. Most of the light thalassemia is normal, while the iron metabolism index of severe thalassemia will be abnormally high.
3. Genetic testing: Most of the thalassemias have gene mutations. When a single gene is involved, the condition is mild, and the more the number of gene defects, the severity will increase.
4. Imaging tests: X-rays and other tests can help determine the severity of the anemia by understanding the skeletal lesions. In thalassemia minor, the bone changes are mild, while in thalassemia major, the bone lesions are more severe and may even result in fractures.
The diagnosis and treatment of the disease should be made under the supervision of a physician.