Sickle Cell Disease: Case Study

3. What skills have I acquired from the development of the GC&E Portfolio that will benefit me in the workforce, in an interview, in a career?

My interest in the sickle-cell disease (also known as sickle-cell anemia), its causes and possible ways of treatment began when one of my best friends died from this sickness. In the course of my research on the subject, I came across an article titled: “Identification of Pica Behaviors in Youth with Sickle Cell Disease”; it is not only recent, but also seems to have solid research as its basis. In particular, the article researches one of the major psychological disorders from which patients with the sickle-cell disease (SCD)

Sickle cell disease (SCD) occurs in 1 out of every 365 African American births compared to 1 out of 16,000 Hispanic-American births (1). SCD is a group of red blood cell disorders in which patients have a sickle or moon-shaped red blood cell due to an abnormal S hemoglobin. While sickle cell disease is relatively rare in American births, this is an alarming statistic among people of Sub-Saharan (west and central) African descent. An interesting fact is that SCD occurs more often among people from parts of the world where malaria is or was common, such as Sub-Saharan Africa (1). In addition, it is believed that people who carry the sickle cell trait are less likely to have

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 Disease (SCD) is a life-threatening disorder with acute and chronic complications that affect patients’ quality of life. Evidence confirmed that the lifespan of patients with SCD is a three-decade shorter than healthy individuals due to chronic complications of vascular occlusion (Sheth, Licursi, & Bhatia, 2013). Therefore, recognizing the need for a guide to managing SCD complications require an Interprofessional team approach to manage symptoms and reduce complications (Yawn et al, 2015).

Physical Development – Due to the low levels of red blood cells, this hinders the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to organs, tissues and cells. People with Sickle Cell Anemia will have a lower than average height and weight than those with normal hemoglobin. This lower than average height and weight continues until late adolescence. Many children with sickle cell anemia will also experience puberty at a later stage at around 13-14 years of age for girls and 13½-14½ years of age for boys, rather than the average age of puberty for children who are unaffected by sickle cell anemia

“In the United States, it's estimated that sickle cell anemia affects 70,000–100,000 people, mainly African Americans” (NHLBI, NIH, Who is at risk for sickle cell anemia). SCD is a disease that is a serious disorder in which the body can make normal blood cells and sickle shape cells. Sickle shape cells can block the blood flow in your vessels and cause pain or organ damage also put you in risk for infections. SCD has no cure available but there are many treatments out there to deal with the complications of it. From over years treatments did get better from way back in the day doctors have learned. Sickle cell disease has lack of attention and funding because it’s only affecting

Sickle cell disease is a chronic condition that a person can inherit from their parents in which it effects the globular structure of the patients red blood cells. A more sickle shaped structure, which can alter a person’s blood flow, replaces the more common globular structure. This impairment in blood flow can lead to blood clots, severe debilitating pain and damage to vital organs such as the liver, kidney and spleen. This disease currently affects over 90,000 people in the United States, with the majority of them being African American and

In Des Moines, Iowa a 16 year old boy by the name of Isaiah Newsome suffers from a debilitating genetic disorder called sickle cell anemia which affects mostly African Americans in the United States. Everyday Isaiah manages his pain daily by dipping into a bag of pills; blood transfusions are done every three weeks to replace the dead or misshaped cells, and for his weakened bones he has a procedure called an infusion every two months. Sickle cell anemia is a disorder that affects the red blood cell (RBC) causing it to appear under developed in a sickle shape. The shape of the sickle cell impedes on the ability of the hemoglobin (Hgb) to attach on to the RBC which deprives starving tissues and organs in rich oxygenated blood (Jackson, 2014). Some recent advancements in bone marrow transplant has proven to cure some cases of sickle cell disease but because of the risk involved with the procedure, approval to use bone marrow transplant widely has not been implemented (NHLBI 2009). By understanding sickle cell disease and increase funding for research is imperative to move forward aiding the improvements of management and treatments for sickle cell disease (SCD) with a goal of finding a cure for sickle cell.

These are three different medical schools in very different locations but I wanted to determine whether all medical schools have pretty much the same pre-requisites. I am going to include research for all three to decide which medical school would be best. If I am not going to major in the sciences I need to know if just standard pre-health courses would be enough to get into medical school. Medical schools are extremely competitive so would it benefit me to major in Spanish or

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a destructive abnormality in red blood cells that results in circulatory impairment. Sickle cell disease can cause pain, infection, organ damage and strokes. SCD is inherited through the infants’ parental genes (James, 2014). For instance, if an infant inherits the gene from one parent that infant will automatically have the sickle cell trait. As a result, the infant will be a carrier of the disease but won’t actually have the SCD. It is very rare for a carrier to have any symptoms. Women who have SCD are considered high risk if they become pregnant. SCD poses complication for both mother and fetus during

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

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.

300,000 children are born annually in the world with sickle cell, unfortunately they are usually in poor third world countries without the means to handle the epidemic. In countries such as Ghana the percentages of people that carry the trait can be upwards of 30 to 40 percent while in other parts of the continent there can be percentages upwards of 50 percent. The wide range and variation in people that carry it in different parts of the country might be connected to the different levels of malaria exposure, which I explained earlier, it appears that people with sickle cell are immune to malaria which is a bigger killer of humans in that region of the

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is an inherited autosomal recessive condition that causes the red blood cells (RBCs) to be crescent shaped. Sickle cell disease occurs in 1 out of every 400 African Americans births (Field, et al 2009). And according to the Centers of Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), 1 out of 13 African American babies are born with the sickle cell trait (SCT). At the same time SCD is present in only 1 out of 300 Caucasian babies, thus it is considered to be one of the most prevalent genetic health disparities affecting people of African, Indian, Hispanic, and Mediterranean decent (Kotch, et al 2000).