MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION AND THALASSEMIA TRAIT - AN EXAMPLE OF HETEROZYGOTE ADVANTAGE

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that thalassemia trait diminishes the likelihood of myocardial infarction. If the hypothesis is true the prevalence of thalassemia trait should be less in myocardi al infarct patients than in a control population, Blood counts and blo od chemistry data from 500 men in Taiwan with a discharge diagnosis of myocardial infarction were recorded, and similar data were gathered o n 500 men admitted to the same hospital for a routine checkup, Thalass emia trait was diagnosed via a discriminant function applied to the re d blood cell count and indices, The study was done in a large modern h ospital in Taipei; 14 of the 500 infarct patients and 33 of the 500 no n-infarct subjects had thalassemia trait as defined here. The prevalen ce of thalassemia trait in myocardial infarct patients is significantl y less than in the control subjects, This case control study supports the hypothesis that thalassemia trait lessens the risk of myocardial i nfarction. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.