Sickle Cell Anemia

8 Pages 2006 Words

une to malaria, a parasitic blood disease which is carried and contracted by infected mosquitoes (Wethers, 2000) Since malaria is mostly found in hot, moist areas in West Africa and the Mediterranean, people originating from that area produced an immunity to towards malaria, but with consequences. The individual will not contract malaria because the mutation in his or her genes quickly fights off the disease by changing the shapes and composition make-up of the blood cell so the parasites will not be able to survive in it. (Wethers, 2000).
The consequence of this is that because the individual’s blood cells mutates and becomes misshapen, becoming “moon-crescent” or sickle-shaped”, or even get spiked shaped. The blood cells then grows and becomes too big to pass through most blood vessels, mostly capillaries and veins, and clump together, forming a mass. (Wethers, 2000) The blood vessels where this happens mostly is associated with the joints and the lungs. When this happens, the child or adults experiences great amounts of pain in their joints and fingers, making it almost impossible for them to ambulate. The joints then get swollen and red. Another condition is that the clump of mutated blood cells can travel to the vessels of the heart and cause a blockage. This is called a thrombosis (Wethers, 2000)
According to research, “The most common forms, or variants of Sickle Cell Anemia are homozygous (hemoglobin SS disease), doubly heterozygous sickle cell

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hemoglobin C disease (hemoglobin SC disease), and the sickle Beta-thalassemias” (Wethers, 2000, p. 1014) Children and adults with homozygous sickle cell disease inherit a sickle cell (S) gene from each of their parents, and shows all the signs and symptoms of Sickle Cell Anem...