'Thalassemia' is a hereditary disease affecting

Correct option is A

The correct answer is (a) blood

Explanation:
• Thalassemia is a severe inherited genetic disorder that directly affects the blood.
• It strongly limits the body's natural ability to produce normal functioning hemoglobin, the vital oxygen-carrying protein housed inside red blood cells.
• This abnormal synthesis results in excessive destruction of red blood cells, culminating in chronic anemia.

Information Booster:
• Patients with severe forms (like Thalassemia Major) routinely require lifelong blood transfusions and chelation therapy to remove excess iron.
• It is classified primarily into alpha-thalassemia and beta-thalassemia based on which globin protein chain of hemoglobin is genetically affected.

Additional Knowledge:
lungs (Option b)
• While severe anemia can cause secondary breathlessness, the primary pathological defect is not in pulmonary tissue.
heart (Option c)
• The heart can suffer from excessive iron overload (hemochromatosis) due to frequent transfusions, but it is not the primary origin of the disorder.
kidney (Option d)
• The kidneys respond to anemia by producing erythropoietin, but they are not the site of the genetic hemoglobin defect.
None of the above/More than one of the above (Option e)
• Incorrect, as the blood is undeniably the correct answer.

So the correct answer is (a)