There are many blood disorders that affect the lives of many people. Some are genetic while others are the consequences of disease and poor diet. There are three different blood disorders that stem from theses causes: sickle cell anemia, thrombocytopenia, and iron deficiency anemia. Each of these blood disorders are diagnosed, treated, and have different prevention methods. Sickle cell anemia causes normal round red blood cells to become crescent shaped. Normal red blood cells can easily move throughout the body’s blood vessels and supply the body with the adequate amount of oxygen enriched blood. But crescent or sickle shaped red blood cells often get stuck in the blood vessels blocking the vessels and causing the stop of oxygen from getting to the bodies organs, tissue, muscle, and bones. Sickle cell anemia is caused by an inherited genetic trait by both of the parents of the affected child. If the child only inherits the sickle cell gene from one parent then the child is said to have the trait but not the disease. However, the child that has only the trait is considered a carrier of the disease and can pass the gene to his or her children. Most people are diagnosed with sickle cell anemia when they are born by having a simple blood test that most hospitals require at birth. Antibiotics are the first course of treatment and it is given to children between the ages of two months to five years of age. Parents are also encouraged to have their children’s routine childhood immunizations on time. The hardest part of this disease is the pain that the patient goes through by the sickle cells blocking blood vessels. Each patient is put on some type of pain management plan so that they can determine when they are about to have a painful episode. Some patients even have to have blood transfusions to lower the risk of stroke, painful episodes, infections, and anemia.