Medical Case Study: M. H. Sickle Cell Disease

.What does the map of the prevalence of hemoglobin disorders worldwide indicate about the disease?

Initial assessment of my patient revealed she had an increased work of breathing using accessory muscles she had a fever of 39 degrees Celsius. Vital signs included, respiratory rate 31, blood pressure 130/85, breath sounds were diminished with crackles in the bronchioles. Chest physical examined revealed increased fremitus and a dull percussion note.

Sickle cell disease was discovered in 1910 in the United States. Many cases came to surface after that, and it was clear that sickle cell disease is predominantly common in the African American ethnicity. Sickle cell disease is caused by a mutation in the hemoglobin of red blood cells. The most common, known sickle cell disease is sickle cell anemia. There is no cure for Sickle cell disease, but there was a treatment that help relieve pain, prevent infections, and prevent organ damage. A drug called Hydroxyurea could be used to increase the production of fetal hemoglobin during pregnancy. Bone marrow treatment, is when stem cells are removed from one person to another person. Cord blood with stem cell transplantation, can replace someone’s abnormal stem cells with a donors stem cell.

Sickle cell is a disease that affects many people all over the world. This paper will share the effects, symptoms, and cures. These red blood cells can cause abnormal break down, delayed development, and also shortness of breath.

American physician James Herrick was the first to describe sickle cell disease. In 1910, Herrick observed “peculiar elongated and sickle-shaped red blood corpuscles” in the blood film of a West Indian student suffering from leg ulcers, shortness of breath, and jaundice (Chakravorty & Williams, 2015, p. 48). In 1922, three more similar case were observed and

CVA related to Sickle Anemia (SCA) with crisis is the primary admitting diagnosis for a 45 year old Hispanic client with a history of DM type 2, HTN, CHF and sickle cell anemia who came to the emergency room after waking up to left sided weakness, blurry vision, and occipital headache, with SOB and chest pain upon waking at 0430 am. SCA is a genetic disorder that causes a malformation of the hemoglobin cells that are attached to the red blood cells causing a decrease in the cell oxygen carrying capacity. Hemoglobin in itself is a protein that binds iron and oxygen to the cells and because the shape of the SCA cells are deformed; the surface area for bonding is decreased therefore the name sickle cell is characteristic of its formed shape.

People who have SCD do not have much access to comprehensive care unlike people with other genetic disorders such as hemophilia and cystic fibrosis. Sickle cells can also block the flowing of blood through the vessels. This results in lung tissue damage (a acute chest syndrome), pain episodes ( in the arms, legs, chest, and abdomen), stroke and priapism (a painful prolonged erection). This may also cause damage to most organs in the body. Such as the spleen, kidneys, and liver. When the spleen is damaged, patients especially children can be overcome by bacterial infections.

Sickle Cell Disease is predominantly among people from African, Asian, Arabian and Mediterranean countries. Nonetheless, due to population migration, it is a global health problem with psychosocial implications. SCD afflicts up to 100 million people worldwide and more tormenting, the life expectancy of patients with SCD is quite variable. Some die at an early age while others have virtually unrecognized conditions and can live active lives, but few lives till advanced age. Patients who are older than 30 years of age are called long-term survivors (Sickle cell disease, 2012, p.4). Finding indicates that most patients with SCD sufferers, regardless, of their social circumstances, do worry about the psychological and social effects of their illness.

Anemia: According to National Heart, Lung and Blood institute, anemia is the most common blood disorder in the United States affecting over 3 million individuals (2015). It develops when the blood lacks oxygen. It is a condition whereby ineffective DNA synthesis occurs as a lack of hemoglobin nutrients. Clinical manifestations develops as a response in the body due to tissue hypoxia and are manifested as dyspnea on exertion, fatigue- as a result of the heavy workload of the organs in the system not functioning properly; dyspepsia with nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness, pale skin, cold hands or feet’s, chest pain and headaches, depending on the severity of the disease and comorbidity. There are different types of anemia: sickle cell anemia,

My daughter has sickle cell anemia. The doctor's specified to me what it was and said sickle cell anemia is a blood disorder that lacks red blood cells. As a seven year old Ophelia doesn’t really get affected by the news as a parent does. Ophelia has told me she has been feeling weak and said her feet and hands were swelling. I checked and I immediately called the doctor and he said she’s been experiencing an early stage of an organ failure. I was terrified by the news. It seems like life is getting harder and harder not only for her, but for me as a parent who wants the best for their child. I scheduled an appointment for a chronic transfusion therapy, that helps vital organ failure. Later within a month my daughter got treated with chronic

1. List your publications/presentations, if applicable. Include authorship rank, submitted/published/ presented, when/where, work in progress.

In this article, it talks about cholera outbreaks in Vietnam again. Cholera is contagious that causes diarrhea. It often happens in poor and high populated counties that have a difficult time getting safe to drink water such as Vietnam. From 1979 to 1996, there was high amount of people in Vietnam with cholera. In 1997 there was vaccination for it so the amount decreased, however in 2006 the amount of people affected increased again. The cause was linked to food and unsanitized water from the river- the main source of water. They collected water samples from patient’s houses, indoor water, wastewater, fresh water, and drinking water. Patients who reported that they had acute diarrhea would be sent to a cholera center to make sure they do spread

SCA is a genetic disorder wherein a person is unable to produce normal hemoglobin A. Instead their bodies produce hemoglobin S, which differs from normal hemoglobin due to the single substitution of an amino acid in one of the two polypeptide chains (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). Hemoglobin S causes no problem as long as it is oxygenated. However, deoxygenation and dehydration cause the erythrocyte to have an elongated sickle shape. The altered erythrocytes tend to increase blood viscosity, occluding the blood vessels and decreasing blood flow. This reduction in circulation leads to pain and organ infarction. However, the sickling is typically not permanent, and the erythrocytes will regain normal shape once they are oxygenated and hydrated. Although when sickling occurs four types of crises are possible. First is a vaso-occlusive crisis, in which vasospasms cause a complete blockage of blood flow through the vessels. This blockage causes relentless pain; and if reversal of this process does not occur, thrombosis and infarction of local tissue ensue. Sequestration is the second type, and in this crisis copious

A serious health condition that represents a silent killer of children is sickle cell disease. This autosomal recessive disorder is multisystemic and commonly accompanied by acute illness episodes and progressive organ damage.27 Commonly fatal,8 it is considered one of the most “common severe monogenic disorders in the world.”27 Sickle cell disease describes a group of genetic conditions that are the product of either homozygous inheritance of the sickle cell gene or heterozygous inheritance of the sickle cell gene with another gene. 29 There are three major variations of sickle cell disease in African ethnic populations, with sickle cell anemia being most common representing about 70% of all cases.27 Sickle cell anemia solely refers to the homozygosity for the beta-S allele (HbS).33The second major form of sickle cell disease is hemoglobin SC disease (HbSC) which has coinheritances of the beta-S and beta-C alleles. The third form,HbS/Beta-thalassemia, occurs from

A 25-year-old women with homozygous sickle cell disease presented to tertiary center at 32 weeks’ gestation with weakness, fever, and worsening anemia. Her obstetric history included previous pregnancy post two years complicated with mild preeclampsia resulting in cesarean delivery at term, but had no reports of sickle cell complications like painful crisis, splenic sequestration or blood transfusion. On arrival she reported left upper abdominal pain, temperature 38oC, heart rate 115bpm, blood pressure of 120/80. Her spleen was palpable 4cm below left costal margin with tenderness. Laboratory results indicated hemoglobin 2.4g/dl and hematocrit 7.8%.