Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle cell anemia is a disease in which your body produces abnormally shaped red blood cells. The cells are shaped like sickle or a crescent and they do not as last long as normal blood cells do, which leads to anemia. These cells can get stuck in blood vessels, blocking block flow. This can cause pain and organ damage. This is a genetic caused problem. If you have the disease that means you have one sickle cell gene from each parents, if you only have one gene from your parents then you have the trait. About 1 in 12 African American has the sickle cell trait. You can get a blood test to check if you have sickle cell anemia. 

Symptoms

• Pain
• Feeling weak or tired
• Shortness of breath
• Dizziness
• Headaches
• Coldness in hands and feet

Cure/ Treatment

There is no widely available cure for sickle cell anemia. There are treatments that can relieve symptoms and lessen complications. You can go through Dialysis. Researchers are investigating new treatments such as blood and marrow stem cell transplants, gene therapy, and new medicines.

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Summary

I already knew about this topic, but every time I read about sickle cell it makes me think of my dad. I have the trait and I got it from my dad, so this topic is very interesting to me. Every time I look up information it helps me understand why certain things happen to me even though there is nothing seriously wrong, like I don't need to go to the hospital or anything like that. I also read more about dialysis, which it is a treatment that you can do by sticking a needle that is attached to a machine into your arm and the machine takes blood out of your body and puts all the normal blood cells back into your body. People usually does dialysis for a few hours a day.

“Sickle Cell Anemia.” Medline Plus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, medlineplus.gov/sicklecellanemia.html. Accessed 10 May 2017.