Sickle Cell Anemia
By: Harrison Bickham
What is Sickle Cell Anemia?
A group of disorders that cause red blood cells to become misshapen and break down.
Sickle cell is a very rare disorder which only effects fewer than 200,000 Americans. Predominantly effecting the African American community.
Symptoms
Sickle cell is a painful disease which causes the red blood cells to become misshapen and break down this causes for some painful side-effects.
Symptoms-
People who suffer from this disease feel pains in bones and joints and sudden pains in the chest area. People also may experience is ,hydration, dizziness, fatigue, fever, low oxygen in the body, or malaise
History
Sickle cells were first described in 1904 by intern Ernest Edward Irons when examining the blood of Walter Clement Noel, a 20-year-old first-year dental student from a wealthy Black family in Grenada. Noel had been admitted to the Chicago Presbyterian Hospital suffering from anemia and was readmitted several times over the next three years before completing his studies and returning to Grenada to successfully practice dentistry. He died of pneumonia in 1916.
Treatments
Cannot be cured but treatments may help. Treatments include medications, blood transfusions, and rarely a bone-marrow transplant.