Discovering Sicke Cell Anemia

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Term Paper Title	Discovering Sicke Cell Anemia
# of Words	1272
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	5.09

Discovering Sicke Cell Anemia

Discovering Sicke Cell Anemia

     The topic that I am learning about is Sickle Cell Anemia, a hereditary
disease which affects red blood cells. Throughout this research  paper, I will
discuss what exactly it is, how it is caused, any known treatments or cures, and
many other facts that are important in this disease.
     Sickle Cell Anemia is a health problem throughout the world. More than
250,000 babies are born worldwide with this inherited blood cell disorder
(http://www.medaccess.com/h_child/sickle/sca_01.htm). The disorder causes red
blood cells to extend into a sickle shape which clogs the arteries.Persistant
pain and life-threatening infections result from the illness. About one in 400
black newborns in the U.S. have sickle cell anemia. And one in 12 black
Americans carry the sickle cell trait (http://www.medaccess.com/h_
child/sickle/sca_01.htm).  This leaves a good chance that the parent with the
trait can pass the defect onto offspring although their own health is not harmed.

     The cause of sickle cell anemia is rather simple but it leaves a life
threatening affect. Anyone who carries the inherited trait for sickle cell
anemia, but doesn't have the disorder, is actually protected from a severe form
of malaria. This helped the children in countries where malaria was a problem,
to be able to survive against that disease. What happened to those children?
They grew up, had their own children and ended up passing the gene for sickle
cell anemia onto their offspring.
     This disease is a hereditary blood disorder that affects the red blood cell.
Red blood cells contain a protein called hemoglobin which transports oxygen from
your lungs to every part of your body. Hemoglobin's oxygen carrying ability is
essential for living but if there is a structural defect on the pigmented
molecule, it can be fatal. When a normal red blood cell distributes its oxygen,
it has a disc shape.  But when an affected red blood cell containing sickle cell
hemoglobin releases its oxygen, the image of the cell changes from a disc shape
to a sickled shape. In hemoglobin, there are four chains of amino acids. Two are
know as alpha chains, and two are called beta chains.  In a normal hemoglobin,
the amino acid in the sixth position on the beta chain is known as glutamic acid
(refer to diagram 1.1 on page 6). During sickle cell anemia, the glutamic acid
is pushed out of  its place and replaced with another amino acid called
vialine(refer to...

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