Sickle cell anemia

Sickle cell anemia
Abstract
This paper focuses on patients suffering from the hereditary trait of sickle cell disease with a focus on sickle cell anemia. The paper gives insights into the causes, treatment and diagnosis of the disease while giving advice on care and handling of patients. It analyses how the sickle cell anemia is passed from parents to children through crossing of genes and gives recommendations on how to prevent the spread of the disease among parents who are carriers. The paper also gives recommendations on ways of using technology as a means of research in the treatment of sickle cell anemia through the use of modern devises such as the pain diary devices.
The paper concludes by giving recommendations to parents and patients who are affected by the disease on the best way to gain quick recovery when affected by a sudden attack of the disease. It also finally advises on the best practices that should e done by patients to ensure that they stay healthy and avoid infections that may cause sickle cell anemia crises.

Sickle cell anemia
Sickle cell disease (SDC) is an inherited group of diseases that are incurable. The disease occurs in the gene of ether the mother or the father. Individuals whose parents are carries of these genes or whose parents are affected are at most risk of the disease. The red blood cells of individuals who have sickle cell anemia are C-shaped. Sickle cell anemia occurs in individuals who have 2-sickle cell genes (Bloom 2009). Individuals who are carries of the disease are generally asymptomatic and hence are not affected completely. They however can pass the gene to their children who may be affected. Sickle cell anemia is most wide spread in regions that are prone to malaria. The sickle cell trait is an evolutionary adaptation since individuals who have it are not affected by malaria. The disease is found in African Americans but has also been found to affect individuals in Africa, the Mediterranean region, South America and Spanish speaking nations.
Diagnosis
Sickle cell anemia can be diagnosed using the amniotic fluid that is present in the womb of a pregnant mother or by running a blood test after the baby has been born (Tapper 1999). The signs usually begin pretty early during the first year of birth; these signs may include frequent infections accompanied by crises. In young children, the signs and symptoms can be detected by observing their behaviors, behaviors such as inactivity or not wanting to play with other children due to joint pains may be cause for parents to be keen. Young men are also affected in that they are unable to have sex due to the creases. Parents should ensure that the children are well taken care of because they are the ones who are most predisposed to the disease. Family physicians should be called to test for the disease because in most cases the parents pass the gene to their children without knowing they have.
Treatment
Sickle cell can be treated in many ways depending on the stage. In very extreme cases where the patient is experiencing extreme pain, there is the option of bone marrow transplanted (Peterson 45). This process is however dangerous and risky since it is difficult to find individuals whose bone marrows march and there is a possibility that the body may reject it. Treatment of the sickle cell disease also varies from individual to individual. These variations are brought about by the different intensities of pain that are experienced by the patients. The pain could be mild or it intense. Mild pains are treated using over the counter drugs such as morphine and other antibiotics. Intense pains can be remedied by rehydrating the patient. Rehydration works because in this case the pain is as a result of the dehydration of the patient. In cases where the pain is extreme, Peterson advises that the patient be taken to a hospital and treated with a dose of hydroxyurea. Hydroxyurea works by stimulating the production of the fetal hemoglobin. Fetal hemoglobin remedies the severe pains by reducing the chances of blood cells from sickling and they also ameliorate anemia (Peterson 2008).

Pain diary device
Technological advancements have enabled doctors to be able to monitor the health of their patients on the go. These devises can be used to monitor the progression of sick cell anemia to help in its treatment. The pain diary devise is a device that records the pain levels that an individual’s experiences within a specified period of time (Bjorklund 2010). When worn by a sickle cell anemia patient, the diary can show the degree of pain the patient suffers on a range of 1-10.1 in this case would mean less pain while 10 means a lot of pain. The devises can also be configured to feature pain face scales to depict pain levels. The devises are preset to measure pain either daily or weekly depending on the results required.

Chances of Recovery
Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disease hence the patient can never fully recover from the disease. Individuals suffering from the disease however do experiences periods of crisis which are usually triggered by infections (Viera 1986). The bouts range from individual to individual but most patients are usually between the two extremes. The recovery of a patient during a specific bout usually depends on how fast the patient is taken to the hospital (Jones 12), parents and individuals affected are advised to stay near medical centers or places they can access medical care fast since the disease in most cases attacks suddenly.

 

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