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An essay on sickle cell anaemia
Sickle cell anaemia report paper
An essay on sickle cell anaemia
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Being afflicted with any disease or medical condition takes a toll not only to the patient but to family members as well. In general, lives of all involved change and so with the family members. The sacrifice that each one has to undertake sometimes is overwhelming. There is also the financial burden to take into consideration and the stress that goes with the ailment. Sickle cell anemia is one of the life-long diseases that is life changing. This research gives a better understanding of the condition.
DISEASE DESCRIPTION Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. In order for cells in tissues to work well, there should be a maintained supply of oxygen. The main job of the hemoglobin is to
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Because of the stickiness and no longer flexible, this causes blockage or delays or totally stops the flow of blood thus, oxygen is not delivered to the nearby tissues. The red sickling and poor delivery of oxygen causes organ damage. Over a lifetime, SCD can damage a person’s heart, liver, lungs, spleen, kidneys, penis, brain, eyes, liver, skin, bones or joints. The tendency of the sickle cells is to burst or hemolyze because the shape can’t change easily. The life span of normal red blood cells is about 90-120 compared to sickle cells that last only for 10-20 days. The body’s compensatory mechanism is always making new red blood cells to replace the old cells. But in SCD, the body cannot keep up with how fast the destruction of cells is and that explains why the body is left to be always in an anemic state (NHLBI, 2015). Millions of people worldwide are affected by the sickle cell disease. It is more common in people of Africa, Mediterranean descent, South and Central America, the Middle East and the Caribbean (Genetics Home Reference, 2016). Sickle cell disease is the most common inherited disorder in the United States, affecting 70-80,000 Americans. Occurrence is 1 in 1,000 to 1,400 Hispanic Americans and 1 in 500 African Americans (Genetics Home Reference,
oxygen out of the blood and uses it in the body's cells. The cells use
Red blood cells deliver the oxygen to the muscles and organs of the body.
According to Virtual Medical Centre (2014) the primary function of the blood is to act as a transport, to give the body protection and to help regulate. The blood dissolves gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide. The blood also transports vital nutrients throughout the body, such as micro-nutrients, fatty acids and amino acids. The flow of the blood helps to regulate the body’s temperature. Also the blood removes wastes material of metabolism. Blood cells (white and red cells) are carried through the body to help with the body’s natural defense, blood clotting and the carry anti-bodies.
...nt of patients with sickle cell anemia. However, the choice of interventions should be done carefully so as to realize the desired outcome otherwise it may not be successful. Key among the innervations listed here, is counseling. This may help the patients to have hope and this may aid in the quick recovery.
What is Sickle cell disease? Sickle cell affects a disease; that disease is called which affects the hemoglobin when the red blood cells that send oxygen through the body are killed off and weakened. Sickle cells can be found in every 1 and 1000 African Americans, it is affecting about 70,000 to 80,000 Americans in the United States. Sickle cell is a death threatening disease, and the severity of symptoms can vary from person to person (Sickle cell disease (SCD), 2015). Some people have light conditions, but others can have severe conditions, which, mean they could be hospitalized. Characteristics of this disease are caused by a minimum of low blood cells, which is called anemia.
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) (also known as Sickle Cell Disorder or Sickle Cell Anemia) is an inherited blood disorder where the red blood cells have abnormal sickle-shaped hemoglobin S (HbS) called sickle haemoglobin (National Heart Lungs and Blood Institute (NHLBI), 2015). The disease, according to medical sciences, is inherited from both parents as part of their genetic makeup and is usually caused by some abnormalities in haemoglobin which is a protein in red blood cells that conveys oxygen through the body. Whereas normal red blood cells are round, in people with sickle cell anemia, a defective substance in red blood cells changes the shape of the cells. The normal haemoglobin called haemoglobin A (HbA) is replaced by HbS which later becomes
During a short break of solitude from studying, I explored and came across that the environment in which most African Americans reside in has a high occurrence of malaria virus. The malaria virus disease is contagious and when it contaminates someone with sickle cell traits, it cannot survive on the external part of the human body so therefore the individual doesn’t develop the deadly malaria virus. While looking further into our class textbook on Human Genetics 11th Edition by Ricki Lewis, and this issue of sickle-cell among the African Americans, I
Sickle cell anemia is a hereditary disorder that mostly affects people of African ancestry, but also occurs in other ethnic groups, including people who are of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern descent. More than 70,000 Americans have sickle cell anemia. And about 2 million Americans - and one in 12 African Americans - have sickle cell trait (this means they carry one gene for the disease, but do not have the disease itself).
Sickle cell was first discovered by Dr. Ernest irons that was a hospital intern who look over a patients cell which seem to be different he called them “sickle cell shaped”. Sickle cell is know as a negro inherited diseases which is incorrect not only African Americans have this diseases. Many other races are effect by this diseases and regions all over the world such as India, Mediterranean countries, South American. In this case sickle disease work kind of like vaccination for malaria another diseases, this is the most common inherited disease in American. Anyone who has sickle trait and have a baby with someone who has the trait also can bring a baby into the world the world with SCD.
Sickle Cell Anemia seems to be one of the hardest conditions to live with due to the severity of its symptoms and it can be an encumbrance to everyday life. Although this condition is hard to live with, it is possible to live with it. Thanks to the twenty-first century advancements, there is great medical care available to patients and many other resources and support groups to help families through this harsh reality of living with sickle cell. Perhaps one day there will be a readily available cure for this horrible disease. Until then, a patient with sickle cell should have a support system and take care to live a healthy life so that they can live their life to the fullest.
Sickle cell disease is an inherited disease where the red blood cells in the body are produced abnormally by bone marrow as crescent shaped red blood cells. Unlike normal red blood cells, sickle shaped cells are unable to deliver much oxygen to other parts of the body due to the abnormal hemoglobin. Sickle cell’s are stiff and sticky and tend to clump together between blood vessels that can cause pain, damage to the organs, and infections. If a child inherits this disease they can be healthy throughout their life or need special care. “In the United States, SCD is most common among blacks and Hispanics. SCD affects about 1 in 500 black births and about 1 in 36,000 Hispanic births in this country. SCD is also common among people with family from Africa, the Caribbean, Greece, India, Italy, Malta, Sardinia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey or South or Central America (March of Dimes)”.
Some of our population may be more at risk then others due to the ethnic background. This diseases is more prominent in some races more than others and studies have shown where the numbers increase or decrease depending on the race. Decedents of Africa, India, the Mediterranean, South and Central America and the Caribbean have a higher percentage of diagnoses. Countries who are exposed to the malaria parasite have the higher number of Sickle Cell cases. The percentage of African Americans with sickle cell is about 1 in 500 and a percentage 1 in 1,000 to 1,400 in Hispanic Americans. People of Caucasian race are less likely to have the diseases because of the history of the d...
Red blood cells are carriers of oxygen. A percentage of these cells contain hemoglobin, which has the capacity to combine with iron. It's the iron-hemoglobin molecular structure that helps carry oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to your tissues and in return, delivers carbon dioxide back to the lungs to be expelled. A CBC with Differential that shows low red blood cell levels can indicate anemia. RBCs comprise about 40% of total blood volume; the RBC count is the number of red blood cells per cubic millimeter of blood (Rauen, 2012). Normal red blood cells values vary a...
Red Blood Cells contain hemoglobin molecules to help bind to oxygen to bring to other tissues. Without this function, cells would not be able to go through the process of cellular respiration and can only survive a short time. Red Blood Cells are also able to carry bicarbonate as a waste product and carry a variety of hormones to communicate between organs.
Thalassemia is a blood disorder transferred through families. It occurs when the body makes less hemoglobin than needed or an unusual form of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that carry oxygen. The disorder makes an excessive amount of destruction of red blood cells. This eventually leads to anemia.