Sickle Cell Anemia: An Incurable But Manageable Chronic Genetic Illness
Abstract: This paper provides an overview of the inherited illness, sickle cell anemia, its diagnosis, treatment and containment of its health implications for patients young and old. It devotes special attention to the difficult subject of how to counsel children through the frightening aspects of the disease, such as chronic pain and promising new treatments for the disease overall. Despite the illness' chronic nature, it is a containable illness for most patients, and enables them, with proper care, to have full lives, even though there is as yet no cure.Textbook definition of the disability According to the National Institute of Health, (2005) sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disease. This means individuals are born with the illness. One cannot catch the disease from other people but parents can pass the illness on to their children through their genetic material. ("What is Sickle Cell Anemia," NIH, 2003) Sickle cell anemia lasts throughout the duration of an individual's lifetime and affects the red blood cells. Normal red blood cells are smooth and round like doughnuts. They move easily through blood vessels to carry oxygen to all parts of the body. In sickle cell anemia, the red blood cells become hard. The
Today, screening tests are done on newborn infants in most states for anemia. ("Diagnosis," NIH, 2003) This screening includes a simple blood test for sickle cell anemia on all newborn infants. This test uses blood from the same blood samples as other routine newborn screening tests. If the first test shows that the sickle hemoglobin is present, a second blood test is done to confirm the diagnosis. These tests also tell whether the child carries the sickle cell trait. It is also possible to identify sickle cell anemia before birth by getting a sample of amniotic fluid or tissue taken from the placenta. This test can be done as early as the first few months of pregnancy. ("Diagnosis," NIH, 2003) Key diagnostic procedure(s) for determining the disability Penicillin is generally given to all children with sickle cell anemia until they are five to prevent complications such as hand-foot syndrome. Although there is no cure, other than bone marrow transplantation, for sickle cell anemia, adult patients make take hydroxyurea for prevention and not to treat acute pain. It reduces the frequency of painful crises and of acute chest syndrome in sickle cell anemia patients, and patients taking the drug may also need fewer blood transfusions. There is concern, however, that this cause the lowering of the patient's white blood count if the dose is too high, and the drug is not approved for use in children. ("Treatment," NIH, 2003) Contributing causes of the disability
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Approximate Word count = 1855
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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