thalassaemia (Cooley's anaemia) (thal-ă-see-miă) n. a hereditary blood disease, widespread in the Mediterranean countries, Asia, and Africa, in which there is an abnormality in the protein part of the haemoglobin molecule. Symptoms include anaemia, enlargement of the spleen, and abnormalities of the bone marrow. Individuals inheriting the disease from both parents are severely affected (t. major), but those inheriting it from only one parent are usually symptom-free.
www.ukts.org Website of the Thalassaemia Society

thalassaemia A blood disease caused by a substitution mutation in the DNA sequence that controls the synthesis of the α- or β-chains of haemoglobin. Thalassaemia results in anaemia and growth retardation.