What do blood cells do?
Blood cells contain hemoglobin, a protein that carries oxygen, and transport it throughout the entire body.
What is Sickle Cell Anemia/Disease?
Sickle Cell Anemia is an inherited blood disorder in which red blood cells are abnormally shaped. "Sickle" refers to the shape of the abnormally formed cell, which looks like a farming sickle.
Inheritance
Sickle Cell is most commonly inherited in African Americans.
The sickle cell gene follows the incomplete dominance rule.
How does shape effect function?
Normal blood cells are biconcave, which allow for easy and flexible movement throughout the body. Sickle cells are rod shaped and not flexible. This can result in blockages that can stop the flow of blood.
The stopping of blood flow results in the lack of oxygen spread to tissues throughout the body. The lack of oxygen in tissues can cause chronic pain.
Symptoms
Pain, infections, fatigue, etc.
Treatment
Medication, blood transfusions, bone marrows transplants, etc.
Citations
"Blood Basics". Hematology.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 6 May 2017.
"Web Site Unavailable". Mayoclinic.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 6 May 2017.
"What Is Sickle Cell Anaemia?". Yourgenome.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 6 May 2017.
"What Is Sickle Cell Disease? - NHLBI, NIH". Nhlbi.nih.gov. N.p., 2016. Web. 6 May 2017.
This is very well organized and it has nice pictures. How does the disease create an immunity to malaria?
ReplyDeleteThis is very organized and put together! Why is sickle cell anemia common in African Americans?
ReplyDeleteSickle cell anemia is most commonly found in people with African descent because those geographic regions are most prone to malaria and sickle cell anemia creates an immunity to malaria.
DeleteGreat layout and very organized. Perfect way to see the importance of the disease. Definitely will help in the future.
ReplyDeleteThis detail is very well put, I'm about to understand it a lot easier now.
ReplyDeleteIs this disease common in the US?
ReplyDelete