Sickle Cell is not a contagious disease that can be “caught” by other people. A friend can no more “catch” Sickle Cell from you, than you could “catch” having blue eyes from a friend. SCD is a genetic disorder you are born with.
Ours is an illness that affects the body’s red blood cells. Normal red blood cells are round, flexible, and can easily pass through veins, arteries, and capillaries (the tiny blood vessels) in the body. Hemoglobin is the main substance inside red blood cells that allows them to carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
When the Sickle Cell gene is present, it causes many of the patient’s red blood cells to become sticky and stiff rather than flexible, and sickle, or c-shaped, rather than round. These misshaped cells only live about sixteen days rather than the normal one hundred twenty. This constant shortage of red blood cells is the Anemia part of Sickle Cell.
Due to their shape, sickle cells cannot carry oxygen throughout the body the way healthy blood cells do. They are unable to pass through the body’s small blood vessels very easily. This in turn prevents blood and oxygen from being distributed throughout the body; causes damage to the bones and organs; causes mild to severe pain crises and a list of other complications I will soon talk about.
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