Sickle Cell Disease In Children Research Paper

Sickle cell anemia is a hereditary disorder that mostly affects people of African ancestry, but also occurs in other ethnic groups, including people who are of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern descent. More than 70,000 Americans have sickle cell anemia. And about 2 million Americans - and one in 12 African Americans - have sickle cell trait (this means they carry one gene for the disease, but do not have the disease itself).

Sickle cell disease (SCD) occurs in 1 out of every 365 African American births compared to 1 out of 16,000 Hispanic-American births (1). SCD is a group of red blood cell disorders in which patients have a sickle or moon-shaped red blood cell due to an abnormal S hemoglobin. While sickle cell disease is relatively rare in American births, this is an alarming statistic among people of Sub-Saharan (west and central) African descent. An interesting fact is that SCD occurs more often among people from parts of the world where malaria is or was common, such as Sub-Saharan Africa (1). In addition, it is believed that people who carry the sickle cell trait are less likely to have

In order to get Sickle Cell Anemia, you must have the Sickle Cell Trait. This is defined as "A person who carries one sickle hemoglobin producing gene inherited from their parents and one normal hemoglobin gene." (3) People who only have one copy of the mutation have the trait. "It is estimated that 1 in 12 African Americans has sickle cell trait." (3) Having the trait will NOT cause SCD. However, having the gene does allow you to pass the mutation on to your children. In fact, "A child conceived by two people with sickle cell trait has one chance in two of also having sickle cell trait, one chance in four of having sickle cell anemia."(3)

In conclusion, sickle cell anemia and the sickle cell trait are more common in African-Americans and people who live in places where malaria is common. Individuals with the trait seem to live normal and healthy lives, however individuals who have the trait and experience high altitudes or vigorous exercise tend to feel unwell because of the lack of oxygen getting into the cells causing them to sickle. In addition, the sickling of the cells can be reversible to a certain extent in people with the trait, however people who have sickle cell anemia the sickling of the cells is irreversible due to the severity of the disease.

Sickle cell disease is a chronic condition that a person can inherit from their parents in which it effects the globular structure of the patients red blood cells. A more sickle shaped structure, which can alter a person’s blood flow, replaces the more common globular structure. This impairment in blood flow can lead to blood clots, severe debilitating pain and damage to vital organs such as the liver, kidney and spleen. This disease currently affects over 90,000 people in the United States, with the majority of them being African American and

It has always been assumed that genetics and lifestyle play a major role in the presence of health disparities and health care issue that affects African-Americans. This paper provides a historical background to a key disease more prevalent in the African American community, Sickle Cell Anemia, the history behind the disease, genetic mechanisms that influences once probability of inheritance and in-depth treatment on how to manage, prevent and sustain a healthy lifestyle when dealing with sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell anemia is a hereditary disease that alters important aspects of the body physiologically and can be inherited via genes. Sickle cell disease (SCD) was first identified in 1910 and has existed in the continent of Africa for five

Sickle cell disease (SCD), a genetic disorder, is an autosomal recessive disease (Brown, 2012). This means that two copies of the mutated gene, one from each parent, must be present for their child to develop the disease. If both parents have the sickle cell gene, there is a 50% chance that any one child will also have the sickle cell trait or gene. Also, if both parents have the sickle cell gene, any one of their children have a 25% of developing SCD. If only one parent has the disease, their children have a 50% chance of receiving the gene, but may never have the characteristics of the disease. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2015), estimates that 90,000

I never knew that someone could get so sick at a young age. Sickle cell could affect anyone. I was still so young so I had so many questions answers that I still want to know the answer to. Why did sickle cell kill my cousin? With this research paper, I plan to answer these questions that I have been having for so many years.

Thousands of years ago, a genetic mutation occurred in people from the Mediterranean basin, India, Africa, and the Middle East. As the Malaria Epidemic attacked people of these countries, carriers of the defective hemoglobin gene survived. Carrying one defective gene means that a person has a sickle cell trait. Two parents with the trait will produce a child with sickle cell anemia. People of these countries migrated and spread to other areas. In the Western Hemisphere, where malaria is not much of a problem, having the abnormal hemoglobin gene has lost its advantage. Any child born from parents that each has the trait will be born with the disease.

Approximately 1 in 13 African American babies will be born with the trait of Sickle Cell Anemia

The genetic disease sickle cell anemia is a very fascinating disease. I was glad and beyond astonished on how this genetic disease was discovered, described, treated, and all the obstacles the carrier had to weave through each and every day. Sickle cell anemia is actually carried on the 11th chromosome. Chromosome 11 codes for the beta subunit of the hemoglobin protein. As a result, since the chromosome is damaged it cannot produce hemoglobin for the cell causing the cell to form into a “C” or sickle shape, hence the name sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell can cause hand-foot syndrome which is swelling of your hands or feet, very common in infected newborns. You can also experience episodes of pain. It is the most common symptom to deal with.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “Sickle cell Trait is people who inherit one sickle cell gene and one normal gene have sickle cell trait (SCT). People with SCT usually do not have any of the symptoms of sickle cell disease (SCD), but they can pass the trait on to their children.” (sickle cell trait)

Sickle cell disease is a disease that is most prevalent in people of African descent along with people of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern origin. This disease is known to affect about 70, 000 Americans and about 2 million people carry the trait (meaning that, they carry a single gene mutation).

People with sickle-cell anemia have to take penicillin, get extra vaccines, and get many tests done. Like most people they need to also exercise every day, have a nourishing diet, and get enough sleep every night. Sickle-cell anemia is most common in African Americans, 1 out of 365 African American children are born with two mutated hemoglobin genes or sickle-cell anemia. Sickle-cell anemia is a negative mutation of the hemoglobin gene because it prevents the oxygen from the lungs to the places its needed through the

This disease is a genetic disease and it is hereditary. It is inherited as an autosomal recessive disease. This means that in order to get the gene you must receive a recessive trait from your mother and your father. The parents could both be heterozygous for the trait and therefore not have the disease, but instead they would both be a carrier. There are only a few ways that the parents could possibly pass the trait. One possibility of having a child with sickle-cell disease is if both parents are heterozygous and they both pass on their recessive allele, (25% chance for offspring to have sickle-cell disease). Another possibility