Thalassemia has a curious link with malaria : thalassemia people are more resistant to plasmodium than disease, so they are favored from an evolutionary point of view.
If we consider the geographical distribution of the hematological disease, in fact, it can be seen that it is similar to that of the infection transmitted by mosquitoes.
The reason is due to structural changes and shorter life of erythrocytes in thalassemics, as well as in patients suffering from other hemoglobinopathies (eg sickle cell disease). These characteristics prevent the exploitation of red blood cells by the malaria plasmodium, which thus fails to complete its reproductive cycle.
