Sickle Cell Disease Taeron Burrell

What Is Sickle Cell Anemia? Sickle cell Anemia is a serious disorder in which the body makes sickle shape blood cells instead of regular ones. Sickle shape cells are shaped like crescents. Normal blood cells are disc shaped and look like donuts without holes. Sickle cells contain abnormal hemoglobin called sickle hemoglobin. Sickle hemoglobin causes the cell to develop a sickle or crescent shape.

How do you get Sickle Cell Anemia? There are four common types of sickle cell disease: SS SC S/beta-plus thalassemia, and S/beta-zero thalassemia A person who is SS has inherited a double dose of the sickle cell gene (S), one from each parent. People with any other type of sickle cell disease have inherited the S gene from one parent and another abnormal hemoglobin gene from the other parent. Sickle Cell Anemia usually occurs when either the two parents have the sickle cell trait, or the father has the disease.

Where does it come from? If one parent has the sickle Trait And another parent has the sickle cell trait Then the baby haves a 99% chance of having Sickle cell disease

Important Facts About 1,000 babies are born with the disease from each year in America. It is estimated that over 70,000 people in the United States have Sickle Cell Disease. Sickle cells are stiff and sticky. Sickle cells tend to block the blood flow in the blood vessels of the limbs and organs.

When does parents find out their child has sickle cell? The parents of patients usually find out that their child has Sickle Cell within in four months to one year old As a parent is can be very scary having a child with Sickle Cell especially if you do not know anything about the disease. Doctors usually suspect that they have Sickle Cell because of the unexplained problems.

What is a pain crisis? Sickle Cell crisis are severe attacks, which can cause pain because blood vessels can become blocked or the red blood cells can damage organs in the body. Almost all patients with sickle cell anemia have these painful episodes, which can last from hours to days. These crises can affect the bones of the back, the long bones, and the chest. Some patients have one episode every few years, others have many episodes per year.

Symptoms of a pain crisis Symptoms of pain crisis usually don’t begin until after age 4. Common Symptoms Include : Attacks of abdominal pain Bone pain Breathlessness Delayed growth and puberty Fever Paleness Rapid heart rate Yellowing of the eyes and skin (jaundice)

Is There A Cure For Sickle Cell Anemia? There is no cure for Sickle Cell Anemia, however, there is treatments that can help such as: Core blood (blood from the baby’s umbilical cords) Apheresis, (blood exchange) Bone marrow transplant, and there is a drug called hydroxyurea.

What is Aphersis? Apheresis is a blood exchange which takes sickle cell blood, and replaces it with new blood. You should have Apheresis every three to four weeks. The reason for Apheresis so frequently is because Sickle Cells die faster than normal blood cells. Sickle Cells usually die within days whereas regular red blood cell last 120 days that’s about 4 months.

Can you die from Sickle cell? Patients once died from this disease back in the 40’s and 20’s but that was before we had any clue of what sickle cell was. Today people with this disease can live till their 50 or behond If you do not take all the precautions that are prescribe from your doctor there can be high chance of death. Living with this disease all depends on YOU

What Is A Bone Marrow Transplant? Bone marrow or stem cell transplants can cure sickle cell anemia. However, they are current not an option for most patients. Sickle cell anemia patients are often unable to find well-matched donors. Although bone marrow is available they are very dangerous to your life. Bone marrow is very had to come across because you have to find someone that has the same match as you, like a brother or sister. In order to have this transplant they must kill you bone marrow with medication and replace it, or implant it.

Other facts Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder that occurs more commonly in African Americans. In fact, about 1 in every 500 African Americans are born with the disease. Also, 1 in 1,400 Latinos are born in the U.S. with SCD each year.

Why did I choose this topic? I choose this topic because people struggle with this disease everyday and some people aren’t really aware.One of my closet friends are struggling with this disease right now.

It’s a constant struggle

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