Sickle Cell Anemia Essay examples

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Sickle Cell Anemia Sickle cell anemia is the most common form of sickle cell disease(SCD). SCD is a serious disorder in which the body makes sickle-shaped red blood cells. The etiology of sickle cell anemia is an inherited disease of two genes of sickle hemoglobin from your parents. One sickle hemoglobin gene from your father, and one from your mother. It is mostly common in individuals from certain foreign countries like middle east, Mediterranean, Africa, and Indian ancestry. In Americans it is estimated that 1 in 12 African Americans have the trait and 1 in 600 have the sickle cell anemia (Pathophysiology for the health professions 4th edition, chapter 17, pg 257). Pathologically, sickle cell anemia is a serious disorder in which the body alters the disc shape of the normal red blood cells to a crescent, or sickle shape. this alteration of the normal RBC shapes result in damaging the cell membrane, leading to hemolysis. as a result. this abnormal sickle cells usually die after 10 to 20 days. Compared to 120 days life span of the normal red blood cells. these sickle cells are sticky and stiff, blocking the blood flow in the blood vessels of the limbs and organs. this blockage causes the insufficient of oxygen reaching quickly to the other cells organs of the body. As a result, this may cause an organ damage, major cell death of tissue areas and pain in the body of the person with this disease.
In a health human body, the normal red blood cells flow freely in a blood vessel, with a normal hemoglobin. These normal red blood cell are made in our spongy large bone marrow, which carries rich oxygen and remove carbon dioxide as a waste product from our body. The bone marrow is always making new red blood cells to replace the old ones that died after several damages to the normal red blood cell is irreversible. That is why sickle cell anemia is a life threaten disease. In sickle cell anemia, one amino acid, valine replaces glutamic acid on the beta chain. The crescent shape of sickle cell anemia is a resulting in low hemoglobin level in the blood. sickle cell anemia does not appear until the child is about a year old. The fetal hemoglobin(HBF) is replaced by (HBS). The very low count of the erythrocyte determines the severity of the sickness in the affected person. The most common symptom of sickle cell anemia is fatigue (feeling tired and weak). People who have this condition often have chest pain, shortness of breath, and fever. They also often have low oxygen levels and abnormal chest x-ray results. Sickle cell anemia has sudden pain throughout the body. This pain is known as sickle cell crisis, which often affect the bones, lungs, abdomen, and joints. These crises occur when sickle red blood cells block blood flow to the limbs and organs. This can cause pain and organ damage. This pain can be acute or chronic.
In the treatment protocols, sickle cell anemia can be treated only to relieve symptoms and treat complications, though there is no widely available cure. The goals of treating sickle cell anemia are to relieve pain, prevent infections, organ damage and stroke. Blood and marrow stem cell transplants may offer a cure for a small number of people who have sickle cell anemia. Mild pain of sickle cell anemia can be treated with opioids/hydroxyurea. Pneumonia vaccines, oxygen therapies are all part of the treatment of sickle cell anemia.
The exact number of people living with sickle cell disease in the United states is unknown, the center of disease control and prevention including seven states, set up a project to learn about the number of people living with sickle cell disease. It is estimated that sickle cell disease affected 90,000 to 100,000 Americans. Sickle cell disease occurs among about 1 out of every 500 Black or African American births. sickle cell disease occurs among about 1 out of every 36,000 Hispanic-American births. Sickle cell trait occurs among about 1 in 12 blacks or African-Americans.
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