There are several blood disorders that occur due to hereditary reasons and among them sickle cell anemia is one of them. It is a chronic disorder which causes muscle weakness and pain. Hemoglobin plays an important role in blood and carries oxygen from the lungs to various parts of the body. It also brings back the carbon dioxide to the lungs. Sickle cell anemia causes a deficiency in the hemoglobin and hampers its functions.

In a normal person, the hemoglobin molecules form a chain like structure and cluster together. In a person with this disorder, the hemoglobin forms a sickle like structure thus getting its name. The cells also become stiff and rigid. A normal blood cell is smooth and donut like shaped. The sickle cells because of their shape do not pass through the blood vessels. They tend to collect in a place and create blockades throughout the body. The organs are deprived of blood, oxygen and nutrient supply. Due to the lack of blood supply a person goes through periodic pain and damage to the tissues and vital organs of the body. It can lead to grave and life threatening medical conditions.

A normal blood cell lives for a period of 120 days but sickle cells die within ten to twenty days. These death cells cannot be replaced immediately by the body and this results in chronic shortage of RBCs. When RBCs are in short supply, the body does not get sufficient oxygen, as these cells are responsible for carrying oxygen to different cells. Hence, it results in a health condition which we know as anemia.

Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disorder. It is caused by the HBB gene, which is responsible for the formation of blood cells. If both the parents carry the gene, then the child has 25 percent chances of inheriting it.

Sickle cell anemia affects millions of people worldwide. It is more common in the Spanish, Indians, Saudi Arabians, and Mediterranean region people. In the United States, it affects nearly 72,000 people, and most of them who have their ancestry in Africa. The disease is known to occur in 1 out of 500 people of the African American origin. It affects 1 in every 1,400 Hispanic person. 

Some people show early symptoms in childhood of the disease. However, because of the weakening symptoms it gets easily diagnosed through a blood examination. Sickle cell anemia cannot be treated and is a chronic disorder.

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