sickle cell Disease
Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disease. It is inherited from either parent and is in the red
blood cells of the body. Hemoglobin which is a protein has a chemical change that causes these red blood cells to become sickle shaped. The regular shape of a red blood cell is a round doughnut shape. When people have sickle cell the shape of the cell changes. The round shape makes it easy for the blood to move throughout the blood vessels. When the cell is sickle shaped this causes the cell to get caught in the vessels. This leads to the flow of blood becoming blocked. The red blood cell breaks apart and this leads to anemia. Anemia is when a person has a low amount of red blood cells in the body. Many people have anemia due to different medical problems but sickle cell anemia can also cause pain as well as other complications.
Sickle cell anemia is the most common genetic disease in the United States as of today over 80,000 people have this disease. More than three and a half million people in the US have the sickle cell trait. This means that a person has a sickle cell gene but they are not affected by the disease themselves. The majority of people who have sickle cell anemia are African American. If two people have the trait and have a child then that child can have the disease themselves. People with sickle cell disease usually live until the age of fifty.
The Term Paper on Pulmonary Tuberculosis Disease Infection People
What is Tuberculosis, and how serious is this problem? TB, or Tuberculosis, is a chronic or acute contagious disease caused by a bacterial infection. TB is the leading cause of death from a single infectious disease, accounting for over a quarter of avoidable deaths among adults. It can affect several organs of the human body, including the brain, the kidneys and the bones, but it predominately ...
People with sickle cell have one amino acid which is glutamic acid that is changed to valine. This is what causes the cells to have their sickled shape. Blood is used in the body to transport oxygen, and remove dissolved waste, and deliver nutrients. Blood flows through the body in blood vessels. The sickled shape of these cells makes it harder for them to flow through the vessels to do their jobs. This is why many people with this illness become sick. They are not getting the oxygen and nutrients delivered normally. The cells cannot flow through the vessels smoothly due to their deformed shape. Healthy blood cells normally last about 120 days. Sickled cells break down in 14 days which is much shorter than a healthy cell that circulates for 120 days. The short life span of these sickled cells is what causes low blood cell counts in these individuals.
Symptoms that a person may have with sickle cell are abdominal pain, bone pain, and gallstones. Other symptoms can include bone infarction due to lack of blood to the bones. Infections are also a big danger to people with sickle cell disease. If a child has sickle cell disease they should maintain normal growth and height. However, a person’s weight may be lower than normal if they have this disease. Today most infants are tested at around 5 or 6 months of age as this is when symptoms appear.
Treatment for sickle cell anemia includes medications and also bone marrow transplants. Bone marrow transplant has been known to cure sickle cell among patients. The problem is finding a matching bone marrow donor which has to be from a sibling. If a patient gets a bone marrow transplant his or her own bone marrow is killed and replaced with the new bone marrow. Pain is the most common symptom of this disease. Many people can use over the counter pain medications unless the pain is too severe. It is important for people to drink plenty of water with sickle cell. People with sickle cell are at a greater risk for infections. Infections are usually treated with antibiotics or may require a blood transfusion. Usually the first sign of infection is a fever and a doctor should be seen if a fever is present.
The Essay on Sickle Cell Anemia Disease Blood Cells
... disease causes painful joints especially shoulders, and hips area. This happened because of a poor blood supply to bones. Finally we have the Sickle-Cell ... (Lessen 75). Just remember that sickle cell disease affects the body, and not the mind. Most people with sickle cell disease can lead full lives. Not every ...
Today with advanced treatment many people are living longer with sickle cell disease. Most people believe that this disease causes people to live short lives but that is no longer the case. The only cure available now is bone marrow transplant but more research is being done to find cures along with the ones that are already available.
Works Cited
Platt, Allan, and Alan Sacerdote. Hope and Destiny The patient and Parent’s Guide to Sickle Cell Disease and Sickle Cell Trait. 1st. Chicago,Illinois: Hilton Publishing Company, 2006.
United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sickle Cell Disease. Web. .
