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Line 1: − '''Sickle cell disease''' ('''sickle cell anemia''') is a genetic blood disease seen most commonly in people of [[Africa]]n ancestry. Sufferers are chronically [[anemic]] and experience significant damage to their heart, lungs, and kidneys. Cells affected by the disease take on a sickle shape (that is, shaped like a "C").+ − − Normal red [[blood]] cells are smooth and round like a doughnut without a hole. They move easily through [[blood vessel]]s to carry oxygen to all parts of the body. Sickle-shaped cells don't move easily through blood. They're stiff and sticky and tend to form clumps and get stuck in blood vessels. − − The clumps of sickle cells block blood flow in the blood vessels that lead to the limbs and organs. Blocked blood vessels can cause pain, serious infections, and organ damage. − − ==Cause== − − The disorder is caused by a genetic defect which causes the blood protein [[hemoglobin]] to form improperly, making it difficult for [[oxygen]] to join with it and be carried through the blood from the lungs to other parts of the body. The specific cause is when the [[gene]] which creates hemoglobin has a single [[base pair]] change, which causes individual hemoglobin proteins to clump together, impairing [[oxidation]]. − − As a result of this [[mutation]], the [[red blood cell]]s tend to take on a sickle shape, rather than their characteristic donut shape. − − Sickle cell disease in a child is determined by inheriting two recessive [[allele]]s from the parents which code for hemoglobin. If a person inherits one [[dominant]] and one [[recessive]] allele (i.e., he is [[heterozygous]]), he is not affected by the disease, but rather benefits from a [[resistance]] to [[malaria]]. Inheritance of two dominant alleles, of course, causes neither the disease nor any resistance to malaria. − − == Sources == − * [http://www.genome.gov/glossary.cfm?key=sickle%20cell%20disease Genome.gov] − * [http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Browse/Blood.html NIH Glossary] − − [[Category:Diseases]]
Sickle cell disease (view source)
Revision as of 18:30, November 10, 2012
, 18:30, November 10, 2012archiving
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