Essay On Sickle Cell Anemia
Sickle Cell Anemia is an inherited disorder that affects the building of hemoglobin in the body. Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that moves oxygen through the body. People are born with sickle cell anemia when they inherit two abnormal genes from both parents (one from each). People with sickle cell disease has a hemoglobin called hemoglobin S. Normally cells move through the body easily but for people who have sickle cell anemia, their cells tend to block blood vessels. Normal red blood cells last for 4 months in the bloodstream but sickle cells fail after 10 to 20 days which causes Anemia. Red blood cells live for 120 days before new ones restore them. Red blood cells containing mostly hemoglobin S, that do not live as long as
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normal red blood cells. Anemia is when the body’s amount of red blood cells fall below what it is meant to be.
Definition
Sickle Cell Anemia is a disease of the blood that is caused by a biological defect in a gene of a person.
“First identified in 1904 by a hospital intern, sickle cell disease became the first disease found to be a genetic disease, forty years later” (Harris 83). In Sickle Cell Anemia, a failing in the gene controls that hemoglobins creation. It is passed from parents to their children. Sickle cells curve into a the shape of a crescent moon(Peterson, 2006). Having sickle cell means a life full of battles against health trouble like pain, infections, and stroke. This results in deprivation of oxygen rich blood to organs and tissues that need it. Sickle cell is a recessive genetic disease, meaning that both pairs of the gene must contain the mutation for a person to have sickle cell anaemia. Sickle cell may cause blockage because the cells do not flow through blood vessels easily and this can cause painful episodes that associate with the disease. This pain can damage organs such as the kidneys, spleen, heart, lungs, pelvic bones and the brain. Tissue that do not receive a normal blood flow after some time becomes damaged. Organs can be damaged by poor blood flow and may be vulnerable to infections. People with Sickle cell anemia tend to have a enfeeble heart because the it is continuously
overworked.
Research
There are many types of Sickle Cell Disease including Hemoglobin SS Disease, Hemoglobin SC Disease, Hemoglobin Sb+ Thalassemia, and Beta-Zero Thalassemia. Hemoglobin SS Disease is when a person has inherited two sickle cell genes. About 90% of patients with sickle cell anemia survive to age twenty, and close to 50% survives beyond the fifth decade. In 2001, according to one study performed in Jamaica, the estimated mean survival for sickle cell patients was fifty-three years old for men and fifty-eight years old for women with homozygous sickle cell disease(Al-Salem, 2016). According to Genetics and Inherited Conditions, "approximately one in six-hundred babies born in the United States to African American parents have sickle-cell disease." Sickle Cell Anemia occurs in one out of five-hundred African Americans born and one of a thousand Hispanics born. Children with sickle cell are two hundred through four hundred times possible to have a stroke. Greatest risk of child that have sickle cell anemia to have a stroke is among the ages two and seven( Proudford, 2008-2016). Maya Priest states “She did many of the same activities as other kids when she was in grade school, but however, she always had to drink a lot of water, and could not play in the snow because when it is cold her whole body aches.” Sickle Cell Anemia affects Africans, African-Americans and very little Latinas. Sickle Cell Anemia is found by performing a lab screening for sickle cell disease. The cell carriers are noticed by using recombinant DNA technology. Treatment for Sickle Cell Anemia focuses on pain and fighting infections as it occurs. Treatment in crisis are composed of analgesics and increased amount of liquids. There is also a drug called hydroxyurea which treats chronic Leukemia but also helps Sickle Cell Anemia patients by reducing pain and problems of the disease by 50%. Some symptoms include pain in hands, feet, stomach, back, or chest that can last for hours or even days. Sickle Cell can cause swollen hands and feet, jaundice, which is when your skin and whites of your eyes turn yellow, and organ damage. You can prevent sickle cell crisis by not smoking, eating a balanced diet, exercise daily, drink up to eight glasses of water everyday, try to lower stress, control any other types of medical conditions , only travel in commercial airplanes, and if you are pregnant or plan on becoming pregnant talk to your doctor. Ways to cope with the pain of sickle cell anemia is a heating pad, warm bath, massage, physical therapy, acupuncture, and relaxing activities.
Application
Sickle Cell Anemia applies to real people who are living in modern American society because around 70,000- 100,000 Americans have sickle cell. Sickle Cell Anemia is important because myself along with many others have this disease. Even though it does not affect me as much as it affects others. Sickle cell anemia affects Americans from Turkey, parts of South America, Greece, Italy, the Middle East and East India. From this assignment I have learned more about my conditions and what other people are going through that I have not encountered. Changes or improvements that may happen dealing with sickle cell anemia will hopefully be the treatments and how sickle cell anemia changes over time because many things change over the course of a time period including diseases. Although sickle cell anemia can’t be prevented, if the disease is detected early then the proper treatment can be started at an early age.
normal red blood cells. Anemia is when the body’s amount of red blood cells fall below what it is meant to be.
Definition
Sickle Cell Anemia is a disease of the blood that is caused by a biological defect in a gene of a person.
“First identified in 1904 by a hospital intern, sickle cell disease became the first disease found to be a genetic disease, forty years later” (Harris 83). In Sickle Cell Anemia, a failing in the gene controls that hemoglobins creation. It is passed from parents to their children. Sickle cells curve into a the shape of a crescent moon(Peterson, 2006). Having sickle cell means a life full of battles against health trouble like pain, infections, and stroke. This results in deprivation of oxygen rich blood to organs and tissues that need it. Sickle cell is a recessive genetic disease, meaning that both pairs of the gene must contain the mutation for a person to have sickle cell anaemia. Sickle cell may cause blockage because the cells do not flow through blood vessels easily and this can cause painful episodes that associate with the disease. This pain can damage organs such as the kidneys, spleen, heart, lungs, pelvic bones and the brain. Tissue that do not receive a normal blood flow after some time becomes damaged. Organs can be damaged by poor blood flow and may be vulnerable to infections. People with Sickle cell anemia tend to have a enfeeble heart because the it is continuously
overworked.
Research
There are many types of Sickle Cell Disease including Hemoglobin SS Disease, Hemoglobin SC Disease, Hemoglobin Sb+ Thalassemia, and Beta-Zero Thalassemia. Hemoglobin SS Disease is when a person has inherited two sickle cell genes. About 90% of patients with sickle cell anemia survive to age twenty, and close to 50% survives beyond the fifth decade. In 2001, according to one study performed in Jamaica, the estimated mean survival for sickle cell patients was fifty-three years old for men and fifty-eight years old for women with homozygous sickle cell disease(Al-Salem, 2016). According to Genetics and Inherited Conditions, "approximately one in six-hundred babies born in the United States to African American parents have sickle-cell disease." Sickle Cell Anemia occurs in one out of five-hundred African Americans born and one of a thousand Hispanics born. Children with sickle cell are two hundred through four hundred times possible to have a stroke. Greatest risk of child that have sickle cell anemia to have a stroke is among the ages two and seven( Proudford, 2008-2016). Maya Priest states “She did many of the same activities as other kids when she was in grade school, but however, she always had to drink a lot of water, and could not play in the snow because when it is cold her whole body aches.” Sickle Cell Anemia affects Africans, African-Americans and very little Latinas. Sickle Cell Anemia is found by performing a lab screening for sickle cell disease. The cell carriers are noticed by using recombinant DNA technology. Treatment for Sickle Cell Anemia focuses on pain and fighting infections as it occurs. Treatment in crisis are composed of analgesics and increased amount of liquids. There is also a drug called hydroxyurea which treats chronic Leukemia but also helps Sickle Cell Anemia patients by reducing pain and problems of the disease by 50%. Some symptoms include pain in hands, feet, stomach, back, or chest that can last for hours or even days. Sickle Cell can cause swollen hands and feet, jaundice, which is when your skin and whites of your eyes turn yellow, and organ damage. You can prevent sickle cell crisis by not smoking, eating a balanced diet, exercise daily, drink up to eight glasses of water everyday, try to lower stress, control any other types of medical conditions , only travel in commercial airplanes, and if you are pregnant or plan on becoming pregnant talk to your doctor. Ways to cope with the pain of sickle cell anemia is a heating pad, warm bath, massage, physical therapy, acupuncture, and relaxing activities.
Application
Sickle Cell Anemia applies to real people who are living in modern American society because around 70,000- 100,000 Americans have sickle cell. Sickle Cell Anemia is important because myself along with many others have this disease. Even though it does not affect me as much as it affects others. Sickle cell anemia affects Americans from Turkey, parts of South America, Greece, Italy, the Middle East and East India. From this assignment I have learned more about my conditions and what other people are going through that I have not encountered. Changes or improvements that may happen dealing with sickle cell anemia will hopefully be the treatments and how sickle cell anemia changes over time because many things change over the course of a time period including diseases. Although sickle cell anemia can’t be prevented, if the disease is detected early then the proper treatment can be started at an early age.