Premium Essay

Sickle Cell Disease Research Paper

Submitted By
Words 1807
Pages 8
Genetic diseases are becoming more and more common in our society everyday. Genetic disorders run in families and can be overwhelming and even scary. These diseases are caused by a changed or faulty gene or set of genes. While these diseases are found in all ethnic groups, some of them are far more common in certain populations than in others. You can do testing with DNA experts but at this time it is very expensive and hard to obtain. Unfortunately, some families hide genetic disorders in their family and their offspring do not know to even be tested because the parents do not want them to know. Some of the most common genetic diseases are autism, some types of cancer, down syndrome, Osteogenisis imperfecta, cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell …show more content…
Around 80,000 Americans are diagnosed with this blood disorder, but is mostly found in African Americans. Sickle cell disease is caused by a mutation of a gene found on chromosome 11. The gene transports oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the body. Red blood cells with the normal genes are usually smooth and round and flow through blood vessels. These cells are destroyed in the bodies of individuals with the disease, causing anemia. The anemia is what gives the blood disorder its commonly known name, sickle cell anemia. A newborn with sickle cell disease gets the gene of the disorder from both parents. When both parents have the gene in them then there's a 25 percent chance that each child that they produce will be born with sickle cell disease. The individuals who only carry the sickle cell trait usually don't get the disease, but can pass the defective gene on to their children. Before some new improvements, children with this disease were not expected to live past their childhood, but now since there is new technology and medication, people can live past 50 years of age. Antibiotics, blood transfusions, and pain management are the only treatments for the genetic

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Sickle Cell Disease Research Paper

...one parent is a carrier of the recessive gene then the offspring could also become a carrier of the mutated gene. An example of a recessive inherited disorder is sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease leads to chronic hemolytic anemia, pain, and organ failure due to abnormal hemoglobin....

Words: 839 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Sickle Cell Disease Research Paper

...Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a blood disorder that affects more than 90,000 Americans. This condition is due to a genetic defect that mutates the structure of hemoglobin which is the oxygen carrying protein of red blood cells. Normal red blood cells are round like the letter “O” so they can move easily through the blood vessels. Red blood cells with the hemoglobin genetic defect have reduced oxygen carrying capacity. They are sickle-shaped like the letter “C” which reduces their ability to traverse small blood vessels. This can lead to blood clot formation in the capillaries and organ damage. There is no readily available cure for SCD but some children with the disease have been treated successfully with bone marrow transplants. High dose...

Words: 315 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Sickle Cell Disease

...this paper, I will be looking at and reviewing the research literature that is available concerning sickle cells disease. I chose this topic for a reason that is close to my heart; I have an eight month old infant who has been diagnosed with sickle cell disease. As a professional, I am concerned with the ways that we as nurses can contribute to providing quality care in response to clients presenting with this specific disease. As a person, I am on the other side of the health promoting, family based care relationship that I am used to in my practice; I now really appreciate how important it is for nurses to provide education, information, teaching and training to parents and clients in response to an illness like sickle cell. In a way, therefore, I am serving both as teacher and student here, as I develop knowledge and collect evidence that I will use as both a nurse and as a concerned parent seeking to understand a disease that my child has been diagnosed with. This literature review supports the argument that nurses can play an important role in promoting quality care for clients and families coping with sickle cell disease, once a strong understanding of this disease and the nurse’s role in responding to it is achieved. This, therefore, is the goal of this literature review. Gale’s “Health Reference Centre Academic” database was used for the research. In fact, a very simple search resulted in the obtainment of all six of the quality, peer reviewed, scholarly research articles...

Words: 1816 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Sickle Cell Anemia Paper

...This paper will describe what sickle cell anemia is, how it effects the human body; as well as the oral cavity. Sickle cell anemia is a hereditary disease caused by abnormal hemoglobin, which causes the red blood cells to have low oxygen levels (National Heart, Lungs and Blood Institute, 2015). Sickle cell anemia is inherited only if both parents have the disorder because it is caused by the genetic abnormality of hemoglobin (webMD, 2015). When there is abnormal hemoglobin it can produce sickle hemoglobin (webMD, 2015). This causes the red blood cells to stick together and create long rod shaped red blood cells when oxygen leaves the cell (webMD, 2015). When this happens it causes the symptoms of sickle cell anemia (webMD, 2015). In people...

Words: 857 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Sickle Cell

...Sickle Cell Disorder Research Paper Sickle cell anemia is a disease passed down through families in which red blood cells form an abnormal sickle or crescent shape. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the body and are normally shaped like a disc. Sickle cell disease refers to a group of inherited red blood cell disorders. It is the most common genetic disease in the U.S. An estimated 70,000-80,000 Americans have sickle cell disease. Normal red blood cells are round like doughnuts, and they move through small blood tubes in the body to deliver oxygen. Sickle red blood cells become hard, sticky and shaped like sickles used to cut wheat. When these hard and pointed red cells go through the small blood tube, they clog the flow and break apart. This can cause pain, damage and a low blood count, or anemia. What is sickle cell trait? A person with the sickle cell trait does not have (and will never have) sickle cell disease. However, the presence of the trait may impact his/her children How do you get sickle cell disease? Sickle cell disease is not contagious; you cannot "catch" it. You inherit it from your parents. If, for example, one parent has normal hemoglobin ( type AA) and the second parent has abnormal hemoglobin ( type AS, or the sickle cell "trait"), there is a 50% chance that each child will have the sickle cell trait, but they will not have sickle cell disease ( type SS). The three most common forms of the disease in the United States are: 1. Hemoglobin...

Words: 697 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Sickle Cell Anemia Research Paper

...Sickle cell anemia(SCD) is an inherited genetic disorder which causes the expression of defective hemoglobin on chromosome 11 resulting irregularly shaped red blood cells also known as “sickle cells” because they look like a sickle or are in a crescent shape. The normal red blood cells are round, smooth and deliver oxygen to cells throughout the body but a cluster of sickle shaped cells blocks the blood flow, causing painful attacks and sometimes stroke. Due to their different shape and chemistry, they are controlled by many free radical processes. This paper will talk about the frequency this disease, inheritance pattern, genetic changes, current research and/or efforts to develop vaccine, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of sickle cell anemia....

Words: 1150 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Business

...Eastern Shore Sickle Cell Anemia Dayona Williams Developmental Psychology 0301 Evelyn Jones 25 November 2014 Abstract: The paper you are about to read will inform you about the disease Sickle cell Anemia. It will explain to you about what Sickle cell Anemia is and how you develop it. This paper will also tell you the symptoms and who can get it. While reading the information you will understand all about the disease and how it’s treated and can it be cured. Also in the paper it will inform you about the difference in Sickle cell Anemia and Sickle cell Trait. Lastly, In the paper you are about to learn all you need to know if someone in your family has Sickle cell Anemia and what they go through and how to actually understand it. In today’s society many kids and adults face the disease called Sickle-cell Anemia. This disease is well known throughout many states and countries. Sickle-cell Anemia is when red blood cells are not shaped as normal blood cells. They are shape in a crescent moon like shape which creates different blockages from the normal cells to pass through. The reason why is because the actual sickle cells become sticky to the point where they stick on the blood vessels wall. Many people know that red blood cells carry nutrients and oxygen from the lungs throughout the body. With the blood vessels flow being blocked and the blood cells shape being crescent there is not enough oxygen being pushed through the body. The red blood cell also carries, “iron...

Words: 2273 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Sickel

...Sickle Cell Disease is an illness that affects people all across the globe. This paper will give a description of the sickness through the discussion of the causes, symptoms, and possible cures. Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a "group of inherited red blood cell disorders."(1) These disorders can have various afflictions, such as pain, damage and a low blood count--Sickle Cell Anemia. Sickle cell disease is the most common inherited blood disorder in the United States. Approximately 80,000 Americans have the disease. In the United States, sickle cell disease is most prevalent among African Americans. About one in 12 African Americans and about one in 100 Hispanic Americans carry the sickle cell trait, which means they are carriers of the disease. Sickle cell disease is caused by a mutation in the hemoglobin-Beta gene found on chromosome 11. Hemoglobin transports oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the body. Red blood cells with normal hemoglobin (hemoglobin-A) are smooth and round and glide through blood vessels. In people with sickle cell disease, abnormal hemoglobin molecules - hemoglobin S - stick to one another and form long, rod-like structures. These structures cause red blood cells to become stiff, assuming a sickle shape. Their shape causes these red blood cells to pile up, causing blockages and damaging vital organs and tissue. Sickle cells are destroyed rapidly in the bodies of people with the disease, causing anemia. This anemia is what gives the disease...

Words: 2074 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Sickle Cell

...1 Personal Impact Paper on Sickle Cell Disease Glenda Kessen NUR427 9/8/14 Amy Highland 2 Sickles Cell Anemia is a chronic, serious red blood cell disorder that is lifelong. "It is the most common genetic disease in the United States." (Guyatt, GH 2007). Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is inherited and results in a decrease of the ability of red blood cells to carry much-needed oxygen through the body. The cells become clogged, due to their crescent shape, which keeps them from delivering oxygen. This can cause unbearable pain, damage to the body organs, and even death. The frequency of the pain episodes can range from several a year to multiple times a day. SCD is caused by hemoglobin S, which is an abnormal type of hemoglobin. When the cells are exposed to low oxygen levels, the Hemoglobin S changes the shape of the red blood cells. Red blood cells are made of marrow that is located inside the large bones of the body. The bone marrow is constantly making new red blood cells to replace the old cells. The life of the normal red blood cell life is about 120 days. Their purpose is to carry oxygen and remove the carbon dioxide, which is a waste product, from the body. Sickle-shaped cells die about ten to twenty days that prevents the bone marrow from making new red blood cells. Ethnicity plays a part in SCD, with African Americans more likely to be affected. Both parents are carriers of the sickle cell trait which is passed on to the child. The child will inherit...

Words: 1423 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Gene Knockout

...technology because of two reasons: (1) the mouse is the most genetically manipulated mammal in the world and (2) it shares much of its genetic material with humans (and other mammals) which means that experimental findings in mice will often be directly relevant to conditions in humans. The paper focuses on the controversies and challenges in Gene Knockout Technology – an article/blog entitled “Sickle Cell Disease cured by Gene Knock-out”. Switching off a single gene can help treat sickle cell disease or sickle cell anemia (a chronic, usually fatal anemia marked by sickle-shaped red blood cells, occurring almost exclusively in Black people of Africa or of African descent, and characterized by episodic pain in the joints, fever, leg ulcers, and jaundice. The disease occurs in individuals who are homozygous for a mutant hemoglobin gene) by keeping the blood forever young. The illness is caused by a mutant form of adult haemoglobin, but not by fetal haemoglobin. Targeting BCL11A, the gene responsible for the body's switch-over from fetal to adult haemoglobin, effectively eliminates the condition in mice. The mutant form of adult haemoglobin forms long sticky chains inside red blood cells. The cells containing these chains can clog small blood...

Words: 1516 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Stem Cell Research Outline

...Stem cell research is an extremely diverse subject. There are people who agree with it, and other’s who do not. Some people do not believe in it because of their religious beliefs, which is understandable. What they do not know though is how many diseases it can cure or how many lives it could save. The only type of stem cell research that is right is adult stem cell research, which is what we will be discussing in this paper. In no way shape or form is it right for someone to use embryonic stem cells. The only way that it is okay to use them is if you have already had a child and take them from the umbilical cord. But one should never abort a child just for something such as stem cells. Carry that baby full term and then use the cord to get...

Words: 833 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Mystery Ot Tutankhamen Death-Hum 111

...Running head: MYSTERY OF TUTANKHAMEN DEATH Mystery of Tutankhamen Death Patience Williams Professor: Dr. Brook Beshah HUM 111 January 30, 2012 Abstract This paper unravels the mystery surrounding the death of Tutankhamen, an Egyptian Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty (1333 BC- 1323 BC in conventional chronology), a period in the history of Egypt regarded as the “New Kingdom” Hankey and Julie (2007). In addition, the paper discusses a brief history of Tutankhamen (the boy king of Egypt) who reigned for 10 years, the cause of his rather untimely death, which up to this day people continues to discuss with a certain degree of uncertainty. The paper accomplishes these tasks by providing a brief summary of some theories that might explain the mystery that surrounds Tutankhamen’s death. Finally, the paper identifies a particular theory out of many regarding Tutankhamen’s death that best explains the mystery of his death. Brief History Before discussing the mystery surrounding the death of Tutankhamen, it is important to know who he was and how and why he became the youngest pharaoh (king) in the history of Egypt and probably the entire world. According to Clayton (2006), Tutankhamen was the son Akhenaten, a former Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 17 years and died probably around 1336 BC or 1334 BC. Tutankhamen who reigned for 10 years, became Pharaoh at the age of nine, but died at the age of 18. Historically, as a prince he was known as Tutankhamen, a...

Words: 982 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Anemia Demographics

...estimated at 5-15%. Although the prevalence of anemia is greater in women than men aged less than 75, by age 75, male prevalence surpasses female prevalence by about 5%. Anemia can be mild, moderate, or severe enough to lead to life-threatening complications. More than 400 different types of anemia have been identified, many of which are rare. Iron deficiency anemia The onset of iron deficiency anemia is gradual and, at first, there may not be any symptoms. The deficiency begins when the body loses more iron than it derives from food and other sources. Because depleted iron stores cannot meet the red blood cell's needs, fewer red blood cells develop. In this early stage of anemia, the red blood cells look normal but they are reduced in number. Then the body tries to compensate for the iron deficiency by producing more red blood cells, which are characteristically small in size. Symptoms of anemia develop at this stage. Folic acid deficiency anemia Folic acid anemia is especially common in infants and teenagers. Although this condition usually results from a dietary deficiency, it is sometimes due to inability...

Words: 4567 - Pages: 19

Free Essay

Stem Cell Research

...Stem Cell Research Paper Stem Cell Research Paper Human Biology The human body is capable of many miraculous feats. Every hour, every minute, every second, millions of cells are working to maintain homeostasis within the body. This paper is going to focus on one type of cell in particular, the stem cell. The properties of this little cell are amazing. These unique cells self-regenerate through cell division, and in addition to being unspecialized, have the ability to develop into many different specialized cells of the body. Numerous studies have shown the potential of stem cells to cure cancers, as well as slow or reverse the damages of some neurological disorders, yet stem cell researchers have met with both public and legal resistance during their attempts to show the incredible usefulness of these cells. Therefore, the question is, with stem cell research showing the potential to reverse the damage from or slow the progression of neurological disorders, and possible cures for cancer and other diseases and disorders are the possible benefits too much to ignore? The ability to self-regenerate is one the things that makes the stem cell such an appealing area to study. Most cells and organs in the body do not have the ability to self-regenerate, nor self-repair but stem cells can do both. Stem cells themselves are unspecialized, in that they have so special function (Stem Cell Basics, 2009). Part of the beauty of the stem cell is that through cellular...

Words: 3681 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

P1 Public Health Strategies in the Uk and Their Origins.

...P1 Public Health Strategies in the UK and their origins. In this article I am going to describe the key features of public health strategies as they relate to current times in the UK. -Monitoring the health status of the population. This strategy involves keeping track of people’s health/keeping an eye on everyone though statics. By tracking changes in the health of the population health professionals are able to alert people to potential problems, for example regular check-ups, at doctors for asthma or Dentist to check up on teeth and make sure they are in good condition plus Orthodontic. Also the NHS provide a free midlife MOT to check people aged between 40-74, to make sure they are in good health and to help reduce the number of elderly who suffer with high blood pressure. Also for HIV, they monitor the health of the population with HIV tracking the number of people with HIV within the population. This helps the NHS find out the population of people with HIV in order for them to take further actions. -Identifying the health needs of the population. This strategy involves identifying health needs, including those that are common problems/ illness that are considered a major problem. For example identifying the illness and providing support through services or medicine, advert are a great way that can get you aware, and provide you with health awareness that is common in the population. Doctors for example monitor the health status of...

Words: 7654 - Pages: 31