Sickle Cell Anemia Essay

Perspective/Overview

Sickle cell anemia is a disease that reforms the patient’s red blood cells, which makes the red blood cells has an abnormal shape like a sickle. Sickled red blood cells can result to severe anemia; decrease causes numerous painful symptoms in patients. A defective protein called hemoglobin is what cause the abnormal shape of the red blood cells in the sickle cell patients.

Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disorder that erythrocytes tolerate sickle shape red blood cells. These red blood cells are easy to damage, which leads to hemolytic anemia. Abnormal hemoglobin is fragile to low oxygen conditions within the body. It loses the blood solubility, and then forms thick strands called polymers. This gives the abnormal shape, called Sickle cell.

Epidemiology/Etiology

Sickle cell anemia is a disease that has to be inherited from both parents. Both parents have sickle cell trait, which means each parent has sickle hemoglobin and normal hemoglobin. So people with the sickle cell trait can pass the sickle cell gene to their children. Most families that come from Africa, South Central, and Central America are more common with sickle cell anemia. According to National Heart, Lung and Blood, it’s estimated that the sickle cell disease has affected 70,000-100,000 people mainly African Americans (National Institute of Health, 2012). Hispanic Americans also are common to having sickle cell anemia. According to National heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, statistics shows sickle cell anemia occurs in about 1 out of every 500 African American births and 1 out of 36,000 Hispanic American births (National Institute of Health, 2012). Signs of sickle cell anemia don’t show until after 4 months of age. Sickle cell anemia begins from ...

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...mia disease patients should regularly have immunizations for all common infection. Patients most importantly should keep their bodies with lots of fluids to prevent dehydration. Vitamins and dieting are also ways to reduce risk factors of the sickle cell disease.

Summary/Conclusion

Having an inherited disease like sickle cell anemia takes a life-long of treatments and preventions of complications that comes with being diagnosed with sickle cell anemia. Many people have lived a long time while dealing with the disease because of the on-going care being provided to keep patients as healthy as possible. Knowing that both male and female have the sickle cell trait can prevent having a child with the sickle cell disease. From the help of the parents, doctors and medicine, sickle cell patients don’t have to deal with the pressure of living with a life threatening disease.