what causes sickle cell anemia?

Answer 1

Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disease caused by an abnormal type of hemoglobin. There are several types of sickle cell anemia : The most common are: Sickle Cell Anemia (SS), Sickle-Hemoglobin C Disease (SC)
Sickle Beta-Plus Thalassemia and Sickle Beta-Zero Thalassemia.

Under normal circumstances, your red blood cells are flexible and round, and they move easily through your blood vessels to carry oxygen to all parts of your body. In people with sickle cell anemia, the red blood cells become rigid and sticky and are shaped like sickles or crescent moons. These irregular-shaped blood cells die prematurely, resulting in a chronic shortage of red blood cells. Plus, they can get stuck when traveling through small blood vessels, which can slow or block blood flow and oxygen to certain parts of the body. This produces pain and can lead to serious complications.

There's no cure for most people with sickle cell anemia. However, treatments can relieve pain and prevent further problems.

There is also sickle cell trait.Sickle Cell trait (AS) is an inherited condition in which both hemoglobin A and S are produced in the red blood cells, always more A than S. Sickle cell trait is not a type of sickle cell disease. People with sickle cell trait are generally healthy. But they can pass the abnormal sickle cell trait to their children and if their partner has the trait, there is a risk that the child may have sickle cell disease.

You can test for both sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait.

It used to be thought that this only affected people of African descent. That is not true. It has been found in many different populations and was even thought to have evolved as a deterrent to malaria ( sickled red blood cells are less susceptible to malarial infestation).

Answer 2

It is a genetic disease. Your mother and/or father may have the gene for it but never get it. However, you may still get it but not a sibling. Sickle Cell occurs when your red blood cells become abnormally shaped (like a sickle). This hinders their ability to fully carry oxygen the way that they should. The abnormal shape is also responsible for "pain episodes". It has been described as a terrible pain that can require the use of morphine to feel just a little bit at ease. You can also suffer from fevers, yellowish eyes, and fatigue.

Answer 3

Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disorder, most prevalent to people of the African American descent.

Answer 4

sickle cell anemia is a condition that is herited from your parents. if you have one parent who has it that means that you have sickle cell trait if both parents have it that sickle cell anemia. Hope this helped!

Answer 5

Aside from being black, who knows....