 [ Symptoms ] what is the difference between alpha and beta thalassemia [ Disease ] thalasemia is a genetic condition where the body either does not make enough hemoglobin or the hemoglobin it makes is not normal hemoglobin is a component of red blood cells that helps spread oxygen throughout the body to make hemoglobin the body needs both alpha globin and beta globin alpha thalasemia occurs if there are problems with some or all of the alph globin genes beta thalasemia occurs when there are problems with one or both of the beta globin genes here is a link to an article about thalassemia with lots of info <link> take care