IS IT THALASSEMIA AND COULD IT WORSEN FURTHER?

Hello everyone!! i am a 25 year old male and for the past 7 months,my blood tests are revealing strange numbers and i am scared of thalassemia..in october 2018, my CBC showed normal WBC's and normal platelets but RBC incresed to more than 6.0 (normal range 4.5--5.5) ,MCV is very low at 22 (normal 27--32) ,MCH low at 69 (normal 83--100) , MCHC normal at 32,RDW high at 14.8% (normal 11--14.5%),ESR high at 30 (normal <20) ,hemoglobin 13.60, hematocrit 41.7%..and RBC were HYPOCHROMIC AND MICROCYTIC..the doctor said that it was probably because of iron deficiency..but in April 2019 i got the CBC repeated due to some other reasons and this time,RBC was 6.0, hemoglobin 13.70,MCHC normal at 32.9 (normal range 31--35) ,MCH and MCV as low as earlier, RDW increased to 16.8%, hematocrit 41.80%(normal)..so this time ,i went to another doctorand he suspected something really strange from these parameters..he has asked me to get tests for iron,ferratin,TICB ,another CBC and hemoglobin electrophoresis tests to be done..i am awaiting the test results and meanwhile,my doctor is out of station..but i am very anxious about what these results point to..i leaned on the net and from other reliable sources that the doctor has asked me to get these tests done as he thinks it might be thalassemia!!

Now,the point is i have some questions and i desperately hope that someone in this forum will provide some hints to my questions

i must mention that i never expected myself to be thalassemic or blood deficit so much so that i am truly shocked..none of my relatives from father's or mother's side had thalassemia or anemia and i am suprised to know that this disease is only inherited...i never had any symptoms so far and could not imagine in my wildest dreams that i could develop such diseases because i have had No Symptoms of the disease and no chance of inheriting it..i felt and looked like being a perfectly healthy man except the fact,that recently i feel very tired and lethargic and suffer from palpitations..

so,my questions are as follows:

Q1.Can thalassemia occur spontaneously without any genetic inheritance from any family member?? And can it affect us so lately?( i have heard it generally produces symptoms since early ages and i have had several blood tests done since my childhood for many unrelated reasons BUT,the RBC counts and other values had always stayed normal earlier)

Q2.If it is really thalassemia,then it produced noticeable signs just recently,,so can it worsen further to MAJOR thalassemia or require stem cell transplant and blood transfusions in later life as the mutation in the genes progresses further??

(though i have read that generally,minor thalassemia does not require such treatments)

Q3.Will my life be shortened due to this diseaese or will i still be able to live a normal life like people unaffected by any disease like this??

Q4.Can these mutations further trigger mutations that cause blood cancers??

I will be extremely grateful to anyone who tries to provide me some hints on these above 4 questions..i know that people on this forum are not doctors BUT,i just beg for some idea and hope to gain some further knowledge on my questions..thanks in advance!!!

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