Sickle Cell Disease In Red Blood Cells

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Sickle cell disease is a blood disorder that affects the red blood cells. This disease is inherited from parents and can be carried as a sickle cell trait. Individuals with this disorder have red blood cells that are sickle-shaped. Due to the shape of this cell, blood does not flow throughout the body as it should. This insufficient blood flow can cause serious damage to tissues and organs. An important part of a normal red blood cell is hemoglobin. Hemoglobin helps red blood cells carry oxygen from our lungs to the rest of our body. Individuals with sickle cell disease form a different hemoglobin than the normal hemoglobin A. These individuals create a form of hemoglobin A, called hemoglobin S, (About SCD & SCT, 2015). There is currently no cure for this disease. …show more content…

It is a genetic disorder and is passed on from parents like a physical trait would be passed on. The hemoglobin genes are inherited in two sets; one set from the mother and the other from the father (About SCD & SCT, 2015). If one parent as sickle cell and the other doesn’t, nor carries the trait, all of their offspring will be a carrier. If one parent has sickle cell and the other carries the trait, there is a fifty percent chance their offspring will have sickle cell. If both parents carry the sickle cell trait, their offspring will have a twenty-five percent chance of having sickle cell disease (About SCD & SCT, 2015). A blood test is all that is needed for individuals to find out if they carry the sickle cell trait or

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