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Sickle Cell Trait

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Sickle Cell Trait (SCT) and Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) can be a serious problem for some people, but at the same time, it can also be very beneficial to some people. Having SCT, means that you do not have the disease, but are a carrier for the trait. People who have SCT are usually unaffected and live normal lives. On the other hand, people who actually have SCD, can end up dying for having it, and are forced to live irregular, difficult lives.
Sickle Cell Disease can be inherited from your parents. If both of the parents are carriers for Sickle Cell, there is a 25% chance of having a child with SCD, a 50% chance of having a child with SCT, and a 25% chance of having a normal child. If both parents are normal, and are not carriers of SCD, than …show more content…

Different altered versions of produced hemoglobin, can cause red blood cells to distort into different, abnormal shape. The normal red blood cells in the body are round, and specifically made for ease of travel throughout the blood stream. Having different hemoglobin can change the red blood cells into a sickle/crescent shape. This does not allow the blood cells to travel through the blood stream efficiently enough. The HbS blood cells tend to be more stiff, sticky, and clump together which can lead to clots in the bloodstream. When blood cannot get to different parts of the body, things can go bad. When blood cannot get to the muscles and tissues in the body, they cannot get enough oxygen to survive and function properly. Normal blood cells tend to live for around 4 months, while the sickle blood cells only live for 10-20 days. This usually causes anemia, which is when the amount of blood cells in your body drops below normal. People who are anemic, can expect to be tired, fatigued, and can have trouble living normal live …show more content…

Africa, is surrounded by water, and has a high population of mosquitoes everywhere. Malaria, a disease that mosquitoes can carry is a deadly disease that can be hard to avoid in some circumstances. There are so many people in Africa that have SCD and SCT, because people with the trait/disease, are immune to malaria, which is a big benefit of having the trait/disease. With malaria not affecting the people with SCD/SCT, they are able to keep reproducing and having kids that have the trait or disease. This is why it seems that the places with malaria have such a high amount of people with SCD/SCT. In conclusion, sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait have their advantages, but at the same time have many other downfalls that come along with having one of the two. People with sickle cell disease have hard lives, and have trouble doing everyday things like participating in a gym class, or doing any type of sports or physical activity. Although, people with only sickle cell trait, have the ease of not having to worry about malaria, but also run the risk of passing the disease to their children. Sickle cell disease is a serious problem worldwide, and it helps to be informed about

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