Sickle Cell Disease Research Paper

There is a very small percentage of people who have sickle cell anemia. There is about 8% of americans who have sickle cell anemia. The most common people to have it is african american children and adults. About 1 in 13 african americans have SCD and 1 in 365 black children have this disorder. There is approximately 70,000 to 100,000 americans who have SCD.

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 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).

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

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.

Approximately 1 in 13 African American babies will be born with the trait of Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle cell anemia is one of the disease out there in the world that cannot be cured. The only thing people suffering from sickle cell can do is get treatments for the symptoms they are suffering from. Not only are there treatments, but there are also things that can be done that can prevent some of the symptoms. Some of the treatments available are different kinds of medications, vaccines, and experimental treatments. When a child suffers from sickle anemia their life could be put on line when catching an infection that may not be life threating to some who may not have that disease, so it is important for children to take antibiotics. From the antibiotics a person can take painkillers to relieve the suffer pain. A drug that is

Sickle cell disease is an ailment that specifically targets red blood cells, causing them to sickle into a cone shape and hinders the transfer of oxygen to other parts of the body. Lack of oxygen can damage tissues and cause major problems for the person affected. As a black male, I am very familiar with sickle cell disease. I have family members with the disease, such as my uncle who was very susceptible to illness as a child due to the disease. I remember him telling me how his body would ache as a child. I also have an ex-girlfriend who had regular pain episodes as well and had to go to the hospital frequently. I am sure plenty of my brothers and sisters of Sub-Saharan African descent either know someone who has sickle cell disease, is a carrier or they have it themselves.

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

Sickle cell disease, SCD, is an inherited autosomal recessive genetic disorder that affects 1 in 500 Americans of West African descent with one in 12 African Americans and one in 100 Hispanics being carriers (“Learning.” 2014). SCD is prevalent in individuals with origins in equatorial countries, such as central Africa, Near East, Mediterranean area, and in parts of India (McCance, 2010). Sickle cell anemia, sickle cell-thalassemia, and sickle cell-Hb C are all forms of sickle cell disease with sickle cell anemia being the most severe. Within the general population there is a 0.7% chance of two African American parents having a child with sickle cell anemia, a 1 in 800 birth risk for sickle cell-Hb C, and 1 in 1700 birth risk for sickle- cell thalassemia (2010). The incidence of sickle cell trait carriers can range from 7% to 13% in blacks and up to 45% in people from Eastern Africa. In comparison to the other forms of SCD, sickle cell anemia is present in a homozygous form. Individuals are considered to be sickle cell trait carriers when they inherit Hb S from one parent and normal hemoglobin from the other parent, these individuals rarely present with any clinical manifestations (2010).

Approximately, two million Americans carry the sickle cell trait. 72,000 people are affected by sickle cell anemia in the U.S., most of whose ancestors had come from sub Saharan Africa, Spanish speaking regions, and Mediterranean countries such as Turkey, Greece, and Italy. In Hispanic American births, one in every thousand people acquire sickle cell anemia. The symptoms created by the blockage of blood flow can vary from patient to patient. Some have milder symptoms than others. Physicians use Hand-foot syndrome on patients to determine the disease. Sickle cells that clog small blood vessels in the hands and feet are one characteristic of the disease. Symptoms the patient suffers are swelling of the hands, feet and various joints. The pain

Sickle-cell disease majorly affects the hemoglobin that is present in our blood. The job of hemoglobin is to help transport oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from the cells throughout our body. Hemoglobin is present specifically in our red blood cells. Each red blood cell contains two hundred and eighty million hemoglobin molecules. Red blood cells normal shape is a biconcave shape because of the lack of many organelles and a nucleus. The shape is so important to a red blood cells functioning that if it is not shaped normally it has major consequences. The shape helps them to fit through capillaries easier and also allows for an increased surface area which results in easier gas exchange. Sickle-cell disease is a genetic disease that causes issues in the oxygen/carbon dioxide carrying hemoglobin molecules that are present in our red blood cells.

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

People who have SCD have abnormal hemoglobin in their red blood cells, called hemoglobin S. This abnormality leads to a propensity for the cells to assume an rigid sickle-cell shape. Sickle cell disease is associated with a number of acute and chronic health problems as severe infections, severe pain, stroke and an increased risk of death.