Sickle Cell Anemia Essay -- essays research papers

The reap hook cellular phone disease is an inherit parentage disquiet that affects ruby-red tear cells. People withsickle cell have red blood cells that have mostlyhemoglobins, Sometimes these red blood cellsbecome falcate or crescent shaped andhave trouble going through sm all(prenominal) blood vessels.When sickle-shaped cells block small bloodvessels, less blood roll in the hay pass water to that part of thebody. Tissue that does not get a blueprint bloodflow eventually becomes damaged.This is whatcauses the problems of sickle cell disease.As tothis day there is really no cure for sickle celldisease.Red blood cells take oxygen from the airwe breathe into our lungs to all parts of the body.Oxygen is carried in red blood cells by asubstance called hemoglobin(Hemoglobin is themain substance of the red blood cell. It helps redblood cells carry oxygen from the air in our lungsto all parts of the body). Normal red blood cellscontain hemoglobin A. Hemoglobin S andhemoglobin C are abnormal types ofhemoglobin.Oxygen is carried in red blood cellsby a substance called hemoglobin.The mainhemoglobin in normal red blood cells ishemoglobin A. Normal red blood cells are cushionyand round and can squeeze through tiny bloodtubes (vessels). Normally, red blood cells live forabout 120 days before new ones knock backthem.People with sickle cell conditions make adifferent form of hemoglobin A called hemoglobinS (S stands for sickle). Red blood cells containingmostly hemoglobin S do not live as long as normalred blood cells (normally about 16 days). Theyalso become stiff, distorted in shape and havedifficulty passing through the bodys small bloodvessels. When sickle-shaped cells block smallblood vessels, less blood can get to that part ofthe body. Tissue that does not receive a normalblood flow eventually becomes damaged. This iswhat causes the complications of sickle celldisease. There are several types of sickle celldisease. The most common are Sickle CellAnemia (SS ), Sickle-Hemoglobin C Disease(SC)Sickle Beta-Plus Thalassemia and SickleBeta-Zero Thalassemia. Sickle Cell trait (AS) isan inherited condition in which both hemoglobin Aand S are made in the red blood cells, there arealways more(prenominal) A than S. Sickle cell trait is not atype of sickle cell disease. People with sickle celltrait are primarily healthy. Sickle cell conditionsare inherited from parents in much the same wayas... ... will have anegative charge under normal body conditions andthus likes to be surrounded by water molecules.Valine, on the other hand, is a neutral, oruncharged, amino acid. Under normal conditions itbehaves like a hydrophobic, organic molecule andwants to hide from water. This difference makesthe globin chains of hemoglobin fold differently,especially in the absence of oxygen. Normalhemoglobin just gives up its oxygen when it gets tothe tissue that needs it, but it retains its shape.Sickle hemoglobin, on the other hand, loses itsoxygen, and becomes re latively insoluble. In thedeoxygenated form, it forms into long arrays thatcome out the shape of the red cell and producethe characteristic sickling that characterizes thedisease. The insolubility of deoxygenated(reduced) sickle hemoglobin is the basis of tworapid diagnostic laboratory tests for sickle cellanemia. Scientists recently have had several(prenominal) limitedsuccess in using genetic engineering techniques toget good copies of the beta globin gene intopeople with sickle cell anemia. If they can succeedin this endeavor, people with the disease may becured but will still be able to pass the genes ontotheir offspring.