The topic that I am learning about is Sickle Cell Anemia, a hereditary disease which affects red blood cells. Throughout this research paper, I willdiscuss what exactly it is, how it is caused, any known treatments or cures, andmany other facts that are important in this disease. Sickle Cell Anemia is a health problem throughout the world. More than250,000 babies are born worldwide with this inherited blood cell disorder(http://www.medaccess.com/h_child/sickle/sca_01.htm). The disorder causes redblood cells to extend into a sickle shape which clogs the arteries. Persistantpain and life-threatening infections result from the illness. About one in 400black newborns in the U.S. have sickle cell anemia. And one in 12 blackAmericans carry the sickle cell trait (http://www.medaccess.com/h_child/sickle/sca_01.htm). This leaves a good chance that the parent with thetrait 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 lifethreatening affect. Anyone who carries the inherited trait for sickle cellanemia, but doesn't have the disorder, is actually protected from a severe formof 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 sicklecell 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 fromyour lungs to every part of your body. Hemoglobin's oxygen carrying ability isessential for living but if there is a structural defect on the pigmentedmolecule, 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 cellhemoglobin releases its oxygen, the image of the ...
