SICKLE CELL ANEMIA DISEASE

Sickle Cell Anemia Disease

Sickle Cell Anemia Disease

Introduction - Brief Background Information And Justification

Sickle cell Anemia Disease (SCAD) is an incurable genetic disorder affecting the capability to make wholesome red body-fluid units, discovered in hemoglobin, which convey oxygen made by the lungs to other units of the body. In patients with SCAD, hemoglobin units cluster simultaneously to pattern sickle-shaped organisations that impede the circulation of oxygen-rich blood. Symptoms affiliated with SCAD encompass anemia, high warmth, fatigue, breathlessness, fast heart beat, susceptibility to diseases, intensive attack with agony, delayed development, leg ulcers, and jaundice. (Platt 2003 7)

The most life-threatening facets of SCAD engage stroke, chronic diseases, tissue impairment, and cardiovascular disease. The prospect of seizures may boost with age. In the United States, sickle cell disease are discovered mainly amidst African-Americans. (Nishiura 2002 32)

Background Information on Disease

Sickle cell anemia was first identified by American physician James B. Herrick (1861-1954) in 1904. In the course of treating the illness of a black student from Grenada who became ill while attending the Chicago College of Dental Surgery, Herrick discovered that some of the student's red blood cells were sickle-like in shape. Subsequent research revealed that most or all hemoglobin cells are sickle shaped in SCA patients. Sickled cells tend to be both rigid and fragile. The rigid shape prevents blood from flowing normally and inhibits the production of healthy hemoglobin. A normal blood cell lives for approximately 120 days. In a sickle cell patient, however, that life span is reduced to between six and 30 days. Consequently, the patient's bone marrow is unable to replace deteriorating cells, resulting in persistent anemia. (Genetic Disorders 2007)

There is strong evidence that SCA had been present in some cultures for centuries where it was known by a variety of names that tended to mirror the effects of the disease. Among the Ga of Ghana, for instance, the disease was known as chwechweechwe, which represented the recurrent gnawing pain of SCA. Herrick's identification of SCA launched the first stage of modern sickle cell research, which focused on understanding the effects of the disease. By mid-20th century, biochemists and geneticists had identified the difference between sickle cell trait and sickle cell disease. In 1949, Noble laureate Linus Pauling (1901-1994) determined that SCS was molecular in origin, noting that hemoglobin molecules of individuals with sickle cell conditions were chemically different from others in the general population. Researchers also documented the genetic benefits of sickle cell trait and thalassemia in countries in where Sickle Cell Anemia Disease was endemic because of the inherent resistance it provided. However, no effort was made to test at-risk individuals before they gave birth to children with sickle cell disease. (Sickle Cell Anemia 2008)

The birth of the civil rights movements in the late 1950s focused public attention of SCA, leading to significant advances. In 1972, Congress passed the Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act and began funding sickle cell research and programs. Researchers also began examining the lifelong psychological factors associated with ...