Sickle Cell Anemia

Anemia is an extremely common condition, and it has several types, such as sickle cell anemia, which affects the form of the red blood cells and causes severe complications in some cases.

Sickle cell anemia

Red blood cells are usually round and flexible to pass easily through the blood vessels in order to deliver oxygen to the blood cells, but in case of sickle cell anemia, the red blood cells become like sickles or crescent moons, and they also become more rigid, and that causes the reduction of the oxygen that they carry, and also it becomes harder for them to pass through the blood vessels. Moreover, sickled cells live shorter than normal cells, and all that causes less oxygen reaching the cells and therefore, sickle cell anemia.

Sickle cell anemia is an inherited disease, and it occurs more frequently in the areas where malaria is more prevalent because people there have a gene that provides partial protection against malaria. This gene also causes sickle cell anemia.

Causes of sickle cell anemia

Sickle cell anemia is an inherited disorder that occurs due to a gene mutation and transfers from the parents to their children. Both of the parents must be carriers for this gene for a child to have sickle cell anemia, while if just one parent has it, the child will only be a carrier and not ill.

Symptoms of sickle cell anemia

Symptoms start at 5-6 months, and they include:

• Anemia, which causes paleness, fatigue, and breathing difficulty, the baby is also fussy and irritated.
• Slow child growth because not enough oxygen and nutrients are reaching the cells.
• Pain episodes, and that’s because the sickle red cells might block tiny blood vessels, and that stops the blood flow through them. Pain might continue for a few hours or even days, depending on the case, and chronic pain might occur in the joints and bones as well.
• Hands and feet swelling due to the blockage in the blood vessels.
• Recurrent infections due to the spleen damage, which is essential in the body’s immunity.
• Vision problems due to the blockage in the tiny blood vessels in the eyes.

Complications of sickle cell anemia

Sickled cells might block the blood vessels completely and stop the blood flow through them, and that leads to severe complications in multiple organs in the body, such as:

• Acute chest syndrome, which is a life-threatening condition that occurs due to a blockage in the blood vessels in the lungs and that causes pain, fever, and difficulty breathing, and this condition needs emergent management.
• Stroke.
• Bone necrosis.
• Vision loss.
• Damaged and enlarged spleen, and it’s a life-threatening condition.
• Gallstones.
• Leg ulcers.
• Priapism.
• Deep vein thrombosis (DIC) and pulmonary embolism.
• Pregnancy complications.
• Chronic kidney disease.

Diagnosis of sickle cell anemia

• Testing blood samples and examining the blood flow in the blood vessels.
• A test can be done to the amniotic fluid during pregnancy to find out whether the fetus has sickle cell anemia.

Management of sickle cell anemia

The symptoms could be managed by:

• Specific medications.
• Blood transfusion.
• In some severe cases, a bone marrow (the substance inside the bones that’s responsible for producing the blood cells) transplant can be done from a healthy donor.