Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited blood disorders that center on red blood cells which can function abnormally resulting in small blood clots, chronic anemia, painful events, and potential complications associated with tissue and organ damage. These blood disorders include sickle cell anemia, Mediterranean blood disease, the sickle beta thalassemia syndromes, and hemoglobinopathies in which the sickle cell hemoglobin is in association with other abnormal hemoglobin in sufficient concentration to cause the red blood cell to sickle.

Sickle cell anemia is an anemic condition which is genetically inherited and causes the red blood cells to form in an abnormal way. Normal red blood cells are round in shape and carry oxygen throughout the body, however, with sickle cell anemia the cells are more of a "C" shape or crescent moon which causes them to become lodged in blood vessels which slows down the flow of blood and oxygen throughout the body.

Persons of African descent are most likely to have sickle-cell anemia, but it is also relatively common among people of Mediterranean, Arab, and South Asian ancestry, and it is not unknown among Caucasians. Inheriting a gene for sickle-cell anemia from both parents results in full expression of the disease. Inheriting a gene for sickle-cell anemia from only one parent causes changes in hemoglobin that are identifiable by blood tests, but does not cause symptoms.

Symptoms include pain in the abdomen, difficulty breathing, delayed growth, constant fatigue, fever, pale complexion, leg ulcers and heart palpitations. Since frequent attacks can cause work-impairing disability for the sufferer, those with regular episodes of severe pain may qualify for social security disability as part of their illness.

Unfortunately, only a small percentage of patients are react to treatments successfully and a large number of sufferers experience shorter than normal life spans. It should be noted that despite the fact that there is no cure, treatments will assist in alleviating symptoms and improving the overall quality of life.

The common first sign of the disease in infants is hand-foot syndrome, causing pain and swelling in those organs. Pain can occur at all ages in the arms, legs, hips, shoulders, back, muscles, and joints, and can vary in frequency. Some episodes last a few hours while others can continue for weeks. Acute chest syndrome results in severe chest and abdominal pain as well as fever, cough, and difficulty breathing.

The major symptoms of this disease are the direct result of the sickled red blood cells blocking the circulation to various tissues of the body. Treatment is designed according to the individual presentation of the disease. Severe anemia; migratory pain crises; joint pain and swelling; bacterial infection; spleen and liver congestion; lung and heart injury; leg necrosis; aseptic necrosis and bone infarcts; eye damage.

All types of sickle cell disease are caused by a genetic change in the hemoglobin portion of the red blood cell. Hemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying protein inside the red blood cell. Normal red blood cells are oval and flexible. Red blood cells in sickle cell disease have a tendency to reshape themselves into rod-like structures that resemble the curved blade of a sickle; thus, the term sickle cell.

Sickled cells also have a shorter life expectancy than normal red blood cells, which can lead to anemia, hence the term sickle cell anemia. The red blood cells carry oxygen, which the body needs to function, to all the tissues and every organ in the body. If there are too few red blood cells, the patient may experience symptoms of anemia: unusual fatigue and weakness, breathlessness, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, and possibly a host of other symptoms, depending on the severity of anemia.

The disease is purely an inherited disease. It means, a person who got it would have inherited the defective gene from his parents. In general the hemoglobin gene inherits two copies from both the parents in humans. In sickle cell disease, When a person inherits two defective genes both from his parents, there are more chances that he can develop a sick gene thus inheriting disease from parents.

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