Sickle Cell Anemia Is The Most Common Disease Among African Mediterranean Dissent

Sickle Cell Anemia is a disease that affects how oxygen is carried throughout the body by blood. Specifically, sickle cell anemia is characterized by a change in the shape of red blood cells from a smooth donut shape to a crescent or sickled shape. The sickled cells are very long and stiff, so many times

Sickle Cell Anemia is a very serious disorder and people suffer from it every day. It is a genetic disorder that causes the hemoglobin in the red blood cell to distort and form into a sickle like shape. The name comes from the shape of the blood cell after it is mutated. A person who has sickle cell anemia got it from inheriting from the parents. It is the most common inherited disorder in the United States. It is also has four other names this disorder can go by HbS, Hemoglobin S Disease, SCD, and Sickle Cell .(https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov)the blood cell is formed wrong turning it into a sickle or crescent shape. Sickle cell is only a disorder. It can also be treated a lot of different ways.

Sickle Cell Disease is an illness that affects people all across the globe. This paper will give a description of the sickness through the discussion of the causes, symptoms, and possible cures. Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a "group of inherited red blood cell disorders."(1) These disorders can have various afflictions, such as pain, damage and a low blood count--Sickle Cell Anemia.

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 disease is a disease that is most prevalent in people of African descent along with people of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern origin. This disease is known to affect about 70, 000 Americans and about 2 million people carry the trait (meaning that, they carry a single gene mutation).

The sickle-shaped red cells interfere with normal blood flow by plugging up small blood vessels. Sickle-cell anemia occurs when an individual inherits a sickle-cell gene from each parent. Programs have been initiated to detect carriers, who do not themselves show the trait; such carriers are informed that a child resulting from the union of two carriers runs a one in four risk of having sickle-cell disease. Therapy for sickle-cell anemia is largely symptomatic. Preventive administration of penicillin to affected children by the age of four months greatly decreases mortality from infections.

In conclusion, sickle cell anemia and the sickle cell trait are more common in African-Americans and people who live in places where malaria is common. Individuals with the trait seem to live normal and healthy lives, however individuals who have the trait and experience high altitudes or vigorous exercise tend to feel unwell because of the lack of oxygen getting into the cells causing them to sickle. In addition, the sickling of the cells can be reversible to a certain extent in people with the trait, however people who have sickle cell anemia the sickling of the cells is irreversible due to the severity of the disease.

People with sickle-cell anemia have to take penicillin, get extra vaccines, and get many tests done. Like most people they need to also exercise every day, have a nourishing diet, and get enough sleep every night. Sickle-cell anemia is most common in African Americans, 1 out of 365 African American children are born with two mutated hemoglobin genes or sickle-cell anemia. Sickle-cell anemia is a negative mutation of the hemoglobin gene because it prevents the oxygen from the lungs to the places its needed through the

Resulting in lack of blood flow to the region most commonly in the peripherals and organs causing pain in hands, feet, joints, fever and in severe forms develops in bones (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010). Sickle cell anemia is the most severe form of SCD, lesser forms include sickle cell hemoglobin C disease, sickle cell hemoglobin D disease, and sickle cell beta-thalassemia. (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010). . The term sickle cell trait is referred to people who are carriers of certain strand of abnormal gene, and it is a type of benign state of sickle cell hemoglobin C (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010). Though, if two people with the same traits may have child, the child will have a 1 in 4th chance of receiving two abnormal genes will develop sickle cell anemia (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle, & Cheever, 2010).

The Sickle Cell gene needs to be inhered from both of the parents; otherwise the individual will only carry the Sickle Cell trait. If the sickle cell trait is carried by an individual they can be asymptomatic. This individual can, however, transfer the gene abnormality to any offspring that they have. Sickle Cell Anemia is the most common form of sickle cell disease. It is also the most severe form of the disease. One variation of sickle cell anemia is hemoglobin SC disease and is one of the more common variations. Many times it manifests with a lesser degree of hemolytic anemia (1).

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.

As mentioned earlier, SCD is Autosomal recessive, which means both copies of the sickle gene are inherited from the parents (Sickle Cell Disease). Those more likely to present with Sickle Cell Disease are of African, Mediterranean, and Caribbean origin (Sickle Cell Disease). Genes that SCD can carry in hemoglobin are as follows: Hemoglobin SS(hgbSS), Hemoglobin SC (hgbSC), Hemoglobin Sβ° thalassemia, hemoglobin Sβ°+ Thalassemia, Hemoglobin SD(hgbSD) and Hemoglobin SE(hgbSD) (What is Sickle Cell Disease?). Below is a case study about the Orca Family that shows family generations of SCD and the Sickle Cell

This disease is a genetic disease and it is hereditary. It is inherited as an autosomal recessive disease. This means that in order to get the gene you must receive a recessive trait from your mother and your father. The parents could both be heterozygous for the trait and therefore not have the disease, but instead they would both be a carrier. There are only a few ways that the parents could possibly pass the trait. One possibility of having a child with sickle-cell disease is if both parents are heterozygous and they both pass on their recessive allele, (25% chance for offspring to have sickle-cell disease). Another possibility

Sickle cell anemia is an anemia that is inherited and mostly affects people whose heritage can be traced back to places where malaria was prevalent. There are approximately 100,000 Americans that have the disease and many more with the trait. Several of my family members are afflicted by this medical condition that causes red blood cells to take on an irregular shape.

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.