The Genetic Disease Sickle Cell Anemia
Introduction-
Throughout evolutionary history, advances in molecular biology allow molecular biologist to discover new genetic diseases. Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder in which there is a single amino acid substitution, which alters the structure and function of the hemoglobin. Although one might think that this disease only affects the circulatory system it actually affects many of the body’s systems, disrupting its functional processes. People who have sickle cell anemia have different severity of symptoms. Some may have reoccurring sickness and trouble breathing while others would have a greater difficulty to breathe leading them to no longer survive. Not only is the anatomy …show more content…
The most common symptom of sickle cell anemia is vasoocclusion. This is a side effect of having sickle cell anemia which results in a sudden course of pain than could last several hours or days. This is because of the shape of the red blood cells. They curve into a sickle shape which is more prone to get stuck within blood vessels causing a sharp pain. Another common symptom is having frequent shortness of breath. This is mainly caused by the lack of ability for the sickle red blood cell to efficiently carry oxygen. Since these cells generally carry less oxygen, more blood is needed than usual which is also why dizziness is a symptom. A physical symptom that may happen is the person is suffering from pallor. This unusually pain complexion is also due to the inefficient blood flow throughout the body. Robert J. Adams also did research in figuring out symptoms and health problems that arise with sickle cell. He observed that people that feel dizziness as a symptom are more likely to suffer from a stroke. Through various research studies he concluded, using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), that people who have sickle cell anemia are more prone to have cerebrovascular diseases such as a stroke. However, Mark T. Gladwin and et al have concluded that the most prominent symptom and reason people with sickle cell anemia die is because of heart pain. Most people who complain of this pain are hypertensive. This means that they have high blood pressure caused by the constriction of blood vessels. Since the overall diameter of the blood vesicle is decreased, the sickle cells are more prone to lyse the blood vesicle. 1, 3,