Essay On Sickle Cell Disease
Sickle-Cell Disease
Greatly affecting the body’s oxygen levels due to mutated red blood cells, sickle-cell disease, influences an individual’s childhood in multiple ways: cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. Sickle-cell disease (SCD) refers to an inherited disorder where abnormal hemoglobin is present in one’s red blood cells. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells responsible for carrying oxygen throughout the body. The deformed sickle hemoglobin in people with SCD can form stiff rods that are not flexible and could cause blockage of blood flow. Normal hemoglobin is disc shaped and moves throughout blood vessels delivering oxygen to the body’s tissues. In SCD individual’s oxygen might not reach certain areas of the body because of the mutated hemoglobin. This lack of oxygen can cause severe pain in an individual; the pain can be continuous in adults. Since the disorder is inherited, the only way to acquire …show more content…
Sickle-cell anemia is the most common type of the disease, showing “impaired growth and maturation” in children (Rhodes et al.). Most children with this disease experience a slower puberty stage compared to children without the disease. SCD is present at birth but the child may not show effects of the disease until later on in life. Most people who inherit sickle-cell disease are from “African ancestry” and “about 1 in every 365 black children is born with sickle cell disease” (“What is Sickle Cell Disease”). Kids can develop one or many symptoms of the disease including chest pain, aplastic crisis, infections, swelling of the hands and feet, spleen enlargement and in more severe cases, experience a stroke. There are certain medications that help cope with the pain in children, but the only known cure is a stem cell transplant. This surgery could involve serious risks and should be deeply considered before following through with the operation (“Sickle Cell
Greatly affecting the body’s oxygen levels due to mutated red blood cells, sickle-cell disease, influences an individual’s childhood in multiple ways: cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. Sickle-cell disease (SCD) refers to an inherited disorder where abnormal hemoglobin is present in one’s red blood cells. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells responsible for carrying oxygen throughout the body. The deformed sickle hemoglobin in people with SCD can form stiff rods that are not flexible and could cause blockage of blood flow. Normal hemoglobin is disc shaped and moves throughout blood vessels delivering oxygen to the body’s tissues. In SCD individual’s oxygen might not reach certain areas of the body because of the mutated hemoglobin. This lack of oxygen can cause severe pain in an individual; the pain can be continuous in adults. Since the disorder is inherited, the only way to acquire …show more content…
Sickle-cell anemia is the most common type of the disease, showing “impaired growth and maturation” in children (Rhodes et al.). Most children with this disease experience a slower puberty stage compared to children without the disease. SCD is present at birth but the child may not show effects of the disease until later on in life. Most people who inherit sickle-cell disease are from “African ancestry” and “about 1 in every 365 black children is born with sickle cell disease” (“What is Sickle Cell Disease”). Kids can develop one or many symptoms of the disease including chest pain, aplastic crisis, infections, swelling of the hands and feet, spleen enlargement and in more severe cases, experience a stroke. There are certain medications that help cope with the pain in children, but the only known cure is a stem cell transplant. This surgery could involve serious risks and should be deeply considered before following through with the operation (“Sickle Cell