Jemima Theodat
Professor Sanjay Koul
Biology 101
November 20, 2014
Sickle Cell Anemia Sickle cell anemia is the most common form of sickle cell disease. This is a hereditary blood disorder. This disorder can be characterized by an abnormal amount of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin molecule in red blood cells. People who suffer from this disorder have sickled shaped red blood cells that resemble a crescent, which is how the disease got its name. The sickle cell disease was unknown until 1904. A cardiologist and professor of medicine of Chicago named James B. Herrick and his intern Ernest Edward Irons saw how the cells were elongated and sickle shaped in a 20-year old dental student named Walter Clement Noel from Grenada (Winter). Noel was later admitted in a Chicago hospital after being diagnosed with sickle cell anemia. There are many symptoms of sickle cell disease. Anemia is an example of a symptom. In the human body the red blood cells can stay alive for 120 days before they die and get replaced. In sickle cells the average is less than 20 days. The shortage of red blood cells leads to anemia (EP). Other symptoms may be pain because the shape of the sickle cell can block blood flow causing pain. Hand-foot syndrome is the swelling of the hands and feet due to the blockage of blood as well. Delayed growth, vision problems and difficulty breathing are other symptoms of sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell can be caused by a mutation in the gene that alerts the body to create the hemoglobin. Sickle cell disease is not contagious, but it is passed down from generation to generation. In order for one to have sickle cell disease he/she must inherit the sickle cell gene from both parents. If only inherited from one parent the person will have the sickle cell trait. That means that the person would have the trait but very few or no symptoms. As of now a bone marrow transplant is the only potential cure for sickle cell anemia. Once a patient finds a matching donor and the transplant is successful, they can start living a normal life. The blood cells are formed in the bone marrow so once that problem is fixed regular blood cells can start forming. There are treatments that can help people with symptoms and complications. For the pain one can take over the counter pain medicine. Antibiotics are also a type
