Sickle cell anemia was first diagnosed by a Chicago based cardiologist called James B. Herrick. He found peculiar blood cells that were elongated and sickle shaped. He found the disorder in Walter Clement Noel, when he was hospitalized in the Chicago Presbyterian Hospital. He was 20 years old at that time. Noel was hospitalized in the same hospital several times with various conditions, such as muscular rheumatism. In 1916, he passed away due to pneumonia. In 1922, another doctor called Vernon Mason gave the disease its name. However, the disease was diagnosed much earlier in this as there were several incidents of it.

A research paper published by the Southern Journal of Medical Pharmacology revealed that in 1846, a spleen autopsy was performed and the sickle cells were noticed during that time. The absence of spleen in a runaway slave astonished the doctors. According to ancient African medical literature, the condition was identified as ogbanjes. This was responsible for the high mortality rate among infants at that time. The history of this condition was traced back to a Ghanaian family of the 1670. As a treatment tar was used to cover the blemishes caused by the disease. The sores caused by sickle cells were very common in the Africans.

In the year 1949, Linus Pauling and a few of his college mates characterized the disease in a more understandable manner. They even demonstrated the presence of sickle cells in the blood. They further made a breakthrough by determining that it was a genetic disorder. This was also the first time in history when genetic diseases were identified and linked with the problem of gene mutation. It was one of the milestones for molecular biology. A detailed paper was published about sickle cell anemia soon after the breakthrough.

The origins of sickle cell anemia were linked to the Arabian Peninsula. It spread to Asia and Africa from here. People with sickle cell anemia also had different chromosomal structures. After finding out the discrepancies in the chromosomal structures the HBB gene was discovered. This gene was responsible for creating normal blood cells. A deficiency in the HBB gene caused incomplete development of red blood cells or the sickle shaped cells.

Sickle cell anemia could have first occurred in India and Africa, around 3,000 to 6,000 generations ago. That is approximately 70 to 150,000 years ago. It is an ancient disease which has not been understood until the breakthrough in 1924. Even today there is no known treatment or disease management for sickle cell anemia.

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