Sickle Cell (Rough Draft)
Sickle cell anemia is a blood disease that causes badly formed red blood cells. The disease is genetec. Mostly people from Africa or other coutries around the Mediterraean Sea get it. In the United States, African-Americans are most likely to have it (Howard, 1995).
Red blood cells are the blood cells that carry oxygen throughout the body. When a person has sickle-cell anemia the hemoglobon in the cell is shaped wrong. Because of this the cells are not round but sickle-shaped, which is how the disease gets its name. Sometimes these cells stick together and interfere with blood flow. This is very painful but also causes medical problems. It can cause damage to organs and keep the body from receiving the oxygen it needs to function well. It also leaves the person likely to get lung infections (Howard, 1995).
Although sickle-cell anemia is genetec, both parents have to carry the gene for the child to get the disease. In the United States, one in every 12 African-Americans carries a gene for the disease, and about 1,000 babies are born each year with sickle cell anemia. One in twelve carriers is a high number, but there is a reason for it. If a person has only one gene, they have the "sickle cell trait." Having the trait rarely makes any problems, but makes it much less...
For example, in the case of sickle beta thalassemia, the individual has inherited a gene for hemoglobin S. from one parent and a gene for beta-thalassemia from the other. Or, in the instance of SC disease, the individual has inherited a gene for hemoglobin S. from one parent and a gene for hemoglobin C. from the other. The sickle cell trait in heterozygous carriers confers the resistance to malaria phenotype
These crises are a direct result of way in which the deformed red blood cells adhere to both each other and the insides of the blood vessel walls, blocking tissues from receiving oxygen. The disease is prevalent across some parts of Africa, the Middle East and India, which is due to the way in which the heterozygous form of the condition offers carriers a degree of protection against malaria,
Sickle Cell Anemia There are both advantages and disadvantages of having sickle cell anemia. How much benefit a person gets from sickle cell anemia's advantages, however, largely depends on where that person is located and what his or her environment is. The same concept applies to the disadvantages of this condition, although to a lesser extent. The root of the advantages and disadvantages of this disease pertain to its specific form
Sickle cell anemia according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health - NLM/NIH (2013), "is a disease in which your body produces abnormally shaped red blood cells." As the NLM/NIH further point out, the cells produced in this case ordinarily have a crescent-like shape. The red blood cells of an individual usually have a disk-like shape. It is this disk like shape that enhances and eases their
Sickle Cell Anemia As an inherited condition, it is presence of hemoglobin which tends to be abnormal that brings about sickle cell anemia. In basic terms, hemoglobin is a red blood cell protein whose main function is carrying oxygen. It is this hemoglobin abnormality that informs 'sickled' or distorted red blood cells whose survival is compromised as a result of the distortion and fragility. Though the prevalence of the condition largely
Another symptom that is often found is a yellowing of skin and eyes; this is a sign of jaundice due to the breakdown of red blood cells. Another sign is that children may show delayed growth and development. (Genetic Disease Profile: Sickle Cell Anemia) One of the aspects that problematizes this disease are the complications that can arise as a result of the lowering of body defenses and the increased
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