Sickle Cell Anemia

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Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle cell anaemia is an inherited blood disorder that the body produces red blood cells that are abnormal in shape. The hemoglobin in the red blood cells, therefore, clumps together. Due to this, the red blood cells become stiff and assume C-shape leading to the blockage of oxygen flow in the blood vessels (Rees, Williams & Gladwin, 2010). The sickle cells multiply more rapidly as compared to the normal red blood cells causing anaemia. 

The long-term effect of the sickle cell disease is anaemia. Anemia is a medical condition in which the count of the red blood cells or hemoglobin is less than count (Ware et al., 2017). This occurs since, in the chronic anaemia, the lifespan the sickle red blood cells is shortened hence the body cannot be able to replace the worn-out red blood cells quickly as they are destroyed. Due to this, it causes a specific form of anaemia referred to as hemolytic anaemia (Bender & Seibel, 2014). The patients with this kind of condition mostly have the hemoglobin level of 8g/dL which is far lower as compared to that of a healthy person. 

The reduced blood level in the patient reduces oxygen level which therefore increases the demand on the heart to pump more blood with oxygen throughout the body. Since the heart is overworked, it causes abnormalities such as enlargements which put the patient at high risk of suffering from the heart failure (Akinsheye et al., 2011). The quality of life of the patient is therefore affected since the patient cannot perform vigorous activities or exercise since the action demands more oxygen which cannot be supplied by the body due to the low levels of hemoglobin that transports oxygen to the other parts of the body. 

References

Akinsheye, I., Alsultan, A., Solovieff, N., Ngo, D., Baldwin, C. T., Sebastiani, P., ... & Steinberg, M. H. (2011). Fetal hemoglobin in sickle cell anemia. Blood, 118(1), 19-27.

Bender, M. A., & Seibel, G. D. (2014). Sickle cell disease.

Rees, D. C., Williams, T. N., & Gladwin, M. T. (2010). Sickle-cell disease. The Lancet, 376(9757), 2018-2031.

Ware, R. E., de Montalembert, M., Tshilolo, L., & Abboud, M. R. (2017). Sickle cell disease. The Lancet.

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