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Personal Impact Paper on Sickle Cell Disease
Glenda Kessen
NUR427
9/8/14
Amy Highland

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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 the hemoglobin (S) gene from one parent and normal hemoglobin (A) gene from the other parent. Children who have parents that each carries the trait will have an increased twenty-five percent chance of inheriting the disease. One in every 500 African Americans births in the United States will be affected by SCD. People from the Caribbean, Middle East, and South and Central America can also

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