Introduction
Red blood cells, which carry oxygen to all parts of the body, which are usually round and flexible which allows them to move smoothly through the blood, take on a sickle shape (sickles are used to cut wheat) so that they look like crescent moon in sickle cell anemia (SCA). These sickle cells become rigid and sticky, which can slow or block blood flow.
There is no cure for SCA but treatment is aimed at relieving pain and help prevent associated complications.
Symptoms
These symptoms usually start around six months of age and may vary from person to person. They include anemia (sickle cells break down easily and die leaving a shortage of red blood cells), fatigue, pain crisis in the chest, abdomen and joints which may require a hospital stay, or chronic pain resulting from bone and joint damage, ulcers and other causes, frequent infections due to a damaged spleen, vision problems due to a damaged retina, swelling of the hand and feet and delayed puberty or growth.
If you start experiencing a fever, or signs and symptoms of a stroke like sudden vision changes, confusion, severe headache, one-sided paralysis, difficulty walking or talking and unexplained numbness, seek emergency care immediately.
Causes
SCA Is caused by a gene defect. This gene tells the body to make the iron-rich compound in red blood cells called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin enables red blood cells to carry oxygen from the lungs throughout the body. The hemoglobin associated with sickle cell anemia causes red blood cells to become rigid, sticky and don’t work properly.
For a child to be affected, both mother and father must carry one copy of the sickle cell gene, also known as sickle cell trait, and pass both copies of the altered form to the child.
If only one parent passes the sickle cell gene to the child, that child will have the sickle cell trait, which means they make both typical hemoglobin and sickle cell hemoglobin.
Their blood might contain some sickle cells, but they generally don’t have symptoms. They’re carriers of the disease, however, which means they can pass the gene to their children.
Risk factors
Being African, we are the most commonly affected people to develop SCA, when both parents carry the sickle cell gene.