Sickle Cell Anemia Complications

Sickle Cell Anemia is a fatal hereditary illness, in which there is insufficient amount of red blood cells to to carry the right amount of oxygen throughout the body. In the United States people with Sickle Cell Anemia is that of an African Descent or would classify themselves as black.

Sickle cell disease is a blood disorder in which red blood cells take on an abnormal shape. Sickle cell anemia is when the red blood cells hemolyze, or die. Sickle cell disease is inherited from generation to generation and is the most common in inherited blood disorders. An estimated 70,000-100,000 people in America are currently suffering from this disease, most of which are African Americans. One is diagnosed with sickle cell disease in early childhood generally around four months old when the signs and symptoms are presented. Because of its huge impact, the United States requires all newborns to be tested for this disease. [1] Sickle cell disease is known to affect, “approximately 1 in every 400-500 African American

Sickle cell anemia is a severe condition in which there aren’t enough healthy, round red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen throughout your body. It is a form of anemia in which a mutated form of hemoglobin--a red protein responsible for transporting oxygen in the blood of vertebrates--distorts the red blood cells into a crescent shape. This causes low oxygen levels. Normal red blood cells are flexible and round allowing for easy movement throughout your blood vessels. In sickle cell anemia, the red blood cells are rigid and sticky and are shaped like a crescent moon--or a sickle. The effect is the red blood cells get caught in small vessels and block blood from reaching different parts of the body. This can cause pain and tissue damage.

Sickle Cell Anemia is a group of disorders that cause red blood cells to become misshapen and break down. Sickle cell disease is the most common inherited blood disorder in the United States, affecting 70,000 to 80,000 Americans (Ashley-Koch, Yang and Olney). Sickle Cell Anemia causes your red blood cells to be thin, stiff, and shaped like a sickle. But your red blood cells are supposed to be round and soft. A person that is diagnosed with sickle cell anemia, their blood cells start to become clogged, causing blood clots, which can cause a great amount of health issues including: infections, stroke, and acute chest syndrome. People get sickle cell anemia by inheriting a mutated gene from both of their parents. On the down side, there is not currently an effective cure for sickle cell anemia, there are several different therapeutic approaches to treating and attempting to cure the disease and help people who are affected with sickle cell anemia better manage their symptoms. There have also been several great scientists that dedicated a lot of research to help find a cure for sickle cell anemia.

Sickle cell anemia has been a huge or major controversy in the united states ever since 1973 until today. It is an inherited disease that affects the red blood cells.

Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder that affects the hemoglobin responsible for carrying oxygen throughout the body. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). This means that, unlike normal hemoglobin in which cells are smooth and round like the letter "O," that can pass through the vessels in our bodies with ease, sickle hemoglobin cells are rigid and form into the shape of a sickle, or the letter "C." The cells are also sticky and hence, cannot travel through small blood vessels. Consequently, they tend to cluster together and cause a blockage in the blood vessels and stop the movement of healthy oxygen-carrying blood.

Sickle Cell Anemia is an inherited form of anemia, a condition in which there isn’t enough healthy red blood cells to carry sufficient oxygen throughout your body. Normally a person has flexible and round blood cells. With Sickle Cell anemia, Hemoglobin molecules in red blood cells, that carry oxygen in the body, are defective causing some of the red blood cells to change and form a sickle, or crescent moon shape.

What is Sickle Cell Anemia? Sickle Cell disease is a blood disorder that is inherited. By inherited I mean passed down from parents to their children. Babies are usually born with sickle cell disease. When they inherit two abnormal genes, one from each parent. Abnormal genes cause the body’s red blood cells to change shape. This being the effect of having sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell is a blood disease. People with sickle cell anemia have crescent moon shaped blood cells that are hard and sticky. When the Sickle cells move through blood tubes, they can clog blood flow and break apart. This can cause main, damage, and a low blood count. The symptoms of the disease are not life threatening, however are not enjoyable. Sickle cell anemia can cause you to experience dizziness, headaches, and shortness of breath. Your skin may also turn more yellow or pale than it usually is. Sickle cell is an inherited disease. It is an unpreventable disease that you are born with. If you have a sickle cell gene, you do not have sickle cell, however your children have a 25% chance of having sickle cell anemia. This blood disorder can cause pain and discomfort but it is unlikely that your life will be in danger if you have the disease.

The sickle cell disease affects about 100,000 people in the America. The most common ethnic group the sickle cell anemia is seen in is African Americans and Hispanics. Approximately one in every ten African American and one in every one hundred Hispanic Americans have the sickle cell trait. Approximately two million people have the sickle cell trait in America. Approximately one in five- hundred African Americans and one in one thousand to one thousand and four hundred Hispanic-Americans have sickle cell disease. No universal cure has been found for sickle cell anemia (“Facts About Sickle Cell Trait And Disease,”n.d.). Sickle cell anemia affects many Americans and a universal cure needs to be found.

Sickle cell disease is a hereditary blood disorder caused by an abnormal hemoglobin in the red blood cell. Hemoglobin is a type of protein that carries oxygen in the body. In order for someone to have sickle cell disease they would need to have been passed down from at each one of their parents, by inheriting a total of two hemoglobin genes. The fact that this is a hereditary disease means that it is not considered to be contagious. This disease comes in about six different forms, but the most severe of them all is sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell is an inherited disease that affects the red blood cells causing debilitating symptoms, however, with treatment people with this disease can quite possibly live an otherwise

In order to get Sickle Cell Anemia, you must have the Sickle Cell Trait. This is defined as "A person who carries one sickle hemoglobin producing gene inherited from their parents and one normal hemoglobin gene." (3) People who only have one copy of the mutation have the trait. "It is estimated that 1 in 12 African Americans has sickle cell trait." (3) Having the trait will NOT cause SCD. However, having the gene does allow you to pass the mutation on to your children. In fact, "A child conceived by two people with sickle cell trait has one chance in two of also having sickle cell trait, one chance in four of having sickle cell anemia."(3)

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is an inherited disease of the blood that is characterized by the production of abnormal hemoglobin S causing the cell to acquire a sickle shape that prevents the smooth flow of blood to a major organ (Shea et al. 2017). The stress is usually caused by fever, infection or cold temperature, which lead to sickle cell crisis caused by hypoxia, dehydration, and acidosis (Barranger, 2017).

Sickle cell anaemia is caused when the red blood cells are of an unusual shape. This is a condition which is genetically inherited and is especially common in Afro-Caribbean children. Children who have sickle cell disease can have what's called a sickle cell crisis, this is due to the misshaped blood cells that cling to each other and gather in the joints of the body. This is usually very painful and can make the child very uncomfortable and distressed. The setting should be given instructions from the parents on how to treat the child. This is usually done by comforting the child and calling for medical help or an ambulance.

Sickle cell diseases are inherited blood disorders that affect mostly African Americans about 70,000 people in the United States. The studies shows approximately 2 million Americans have the sickle cell trait. The sickle cell trait occurs in about 1 in 12 African Americans and sickle cell disease affects millions of people worldwide. The rate for sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait is higher in people who live in Africa, South or Central America, the Caribbean islands, Mediterranean countries, India, and Saudi Arabia.