Sickle Cell Disease - Research Paper Example

College Sickle cell is a disease that is hereditary and is passed from one generation to another. It usually comes with severe pains during the times of the crises. However there are various ways that can be used to reduce and manage the pain. This paper take a look at some of the various ways that the disease affects the lives of people and how this disease can be controlled and managed without causing death. A series of articles and books have been used here as the main sources for getting the useful information used here. Introduction Red blood cells are cells found in the blood and that are used to transport oxygen to various parts of the body. Hemoglobin is cells found around red blood cells and aid the red blood cells in the transportation of oxygen. For a normal person, the red blood cells are normally circular in shape and because of this shape, they are able to move around every part of the body and be able to fit in through. In some cases, the hemoglobin can cause the red blood cells to change their shape into a sickle shape thereby losing their original circular shape. When this happens, then red blood cells are not able to move around the whole body and sometimes it is blocked on its way by barriers. This can cause deficiency of oxygen in parts of the body therefore making the patient to feel a lot of pain. This condition is known as sickle anemia. Anemia is a condition in which the body has less blood to transport the needed oxygen to various parts of the body. This condition is always genetic and is passed from one generation to another. However it is funny to note that one can contain the sickle cell gene but not have the disease. However in few cases, the disease does manifest itself (Cheatman, 1990). When blood doe not move around the vessels due to the presence of the crescent shaped red blood cells, it causes occlusion. This is a condition in which the blood vessels are clogged and as a result, the blood is not able to move to various parts of the vessel. This is always very painful and most patients are known to scream because of the pain. This kind of pain causes what is known as the crisis of the sickle cell disease? Is there a way that can be used to stop this pain for patients? Sickle cell crises The clogging of blood vessels can result in very severe pain that is called the sickle cell crises. During this period, the patient experiences an imaginable pain and in most cases forced to go to hospitals for emergency treatments. At the beginning, the damages are noticed by the behaviours and the loss of appetite by the patient. Then slowly the start to experience the pain that can last from a few hours to several days. During this time, the patient can easily die if no medication is delivered and they are always screaming their lungs out due to the pain. However these pains do not come every day. They come once depending with the patient. However around 70% of the patients with sickle disease doesn’t experience the crises, among the ones who experience the crisis, it mainly occurs like once in a lifetime or even after a year depending with the patient. To relieve this pain medication is delivered to the patient as well as other fluids that are known to cause a decrease in the amount of pain that the patient experiences. Sickle cell disease can be triggered by some conditions (Jacob, 2003). These conditions include Infections such as flu or cold Fatigue Too much exercise to the body Dehydration (patients are normally advised to take in a lot of water and fluids) Lack of enough oxygen in the body Who has the disease? Sickle cell disease is genetic and is passed from one generation to another genetically. In the United States, it is estimated that the African Americans are the most likely group to have the disease. One out of 500 African Americans has the disease. Following the line are the Hispanic Americans. It is estimated that for every 1000 Hispanic American, 1 is likely to have the disease. In America, it is estimated that 72000 people have the sickle cell disease. However these are just but statistical estimations (Ewalt, 1996). This disease is not contagious in any way and family members should not be afraid of contacting the disease through taking care of the person who is affected by the disease. It is important for the family members to know that this disease is inherited from one generation to another and the only time that one should worry about is when their parents and close relatives have the disease. Genetically, every time that a child is born, they have two genes that determine the structure of the red blood cells. Each gene comes from the two parents. A family that has a gene of the sickle cell has three possibilities. 1. A child can have healthy hemoglobin and therefore in no way have the disease. It is for this that these children will have no sign to show of the sickle cell disease. 2. In another stage, the family members may have one gene that contains the disease and another gene that does not contain the disease. This kind of child will have the trait for the disease and not the disease itself. Most people with the sickle cell trait do not know that they have the disease rather think they do not have it at all. However these people have the possibility of passing this disease to their children. 3. In the third case, the child can have the two genes with the sickle cell disease. In this case, the child will definitely have the disease. To know if the child has sickle cell, a simple blood test is done to the sample of the blood of the patient. The blood is taken to the lab and the shape of the red blood cells is looked to see if there is any chance of the disease. Symptoms of the disease A child can be able to start showing symptoms of the disease as early as the age of 6 months. Babies with this kind of condition will develop slowly and in most cases have poor performance in class due to the pains that they experience. Affected children are always cranky irrespective of what their parents do to them. When parents learn about the conditions of their children at an early age, they are able to help them therefore preventing them from having future problems and helping them develop faster in class. However pain is the most common and well experienced symptom that is unique to this condition. During these paining times, the pain is seen to come from the bones of the arms, the legs, and the feet. Chest and stomach pains are also common to the disease. The pain can last for a few hours to several days but ends after this duration (Royal, 1997). Other common health problems of the disease 1. Low blood count or anemia 2. Infections of the body 3. Feeling fatigued 4. Breathing problems with severe pains in the chest 5. Blindness and other common eye problems e.g. eyesight 6. Skin infections such as ulcers and sores that take a lot of time to heal 7. The white of the eye can sometimes yellow in color or cause what is known as jaundice 8. Organs such as the liver and the lungs can be damaged 9. Stroke or brain damage How to help If you are a parent, guardian or anyone close to a sickle cell patient, then you are expected to learn more about the disease from local publications as well as from experts. Find a medical practitioner and get as much information about the disease as you can. Once you have done this, ensure that the patients get to visit the doctor regularly for supervision into his/her health. Remember to discuss your concerns with the doctor as this is the best person who is in a position to help you. The second and most important thing is to find out what triggers crises in this particular patient whether it is stress or anything just note it down as it would be very useful. Ensure that the patient is never dehydrated by giving them plenty of fluid such as juices and water to drink (Gille, 2004). Keep all manner of stress away from the patient. This is one of the most important and challenging parts of the process. With the approval from the physician, administer pain medications that can help the patient by reducing the pain. Also massage the areas that are painful and has sores. This however should be done by the approval of a physician too. Learn from the doctor the useful pain management strategies that are useful for the management of the pains of the patient. And always keep watch for any sign of a crisis. Have a journal that the patient uses to record the daily fatigue plan (Jones, 2008). How to prevent crises In most cases, the sickle cell crises can have some prevention. This is however effective with full cooperation of the patients. For preventive purposes, ensure that the patient 1. Avoids smoking at all cost and limit the level of alcohol that is taken by the patient. 2. Make sure that the patient is always warm especially during the night to prevent flu which is known to highly trigger the crisis. 3. Ensure that the patient has a lot of sleep during the night if there is any sleep related problems such as difficulties during sleep, inform the doctor as soon as possible 4. Ensure that the patient has enough exercise but not too much exercise 5. Make sure that the patient takes in a lot of water and other fluids to ensure that he/she is not dehydrated 6. The patient has to learn to manage and monitor his/her emotional stress. 7. When an infection is noticed, make sure that it is treated immediately so that it does not become infectious. 8. Always remember to monitor the medications that are given to the patient to ensure conformity and regularity (Harris, 2001) Calling a doctor There are warning signs that requires the urgent need of a doctor. If any of the above mentioned conditions are noticed, ensure that you call a doctor to manage the progress of the patient. 1. If the patient has a fever of 38 degrees Celsius or 101 degrees Fahrenheit, then it is advisable to call the doctor immediately 2. If after administering the medication there is no reduction in the pain, then call a doctor immediately or transfer the patient to the nearest medical centre 3. Fast breathing or reduction in breadth is another sign for the doctor to be called 4. Dizziness and severe headaches is also a sign for the doctor to come 5. Pain in the stomach is also bad and the patient need to see a doctor urgently 6. If the eyes change color to yellow, ensure that the patient sees the doctor urgently as this is a bad sign 7. Erections that are painful for males also require medical attention 8. Weakness and a sudden vision change Patients who are challenged physically or are children and can’t communicate There are situations when the patient is a child or someone who is not able to communicate and say how they feel. In such cases, the caretaker may have a lot of difficulties in identifying if the patient is at risk or not. This always results in late emergency calls or unnecessary medical emergency calls. However with careful inspection of the patient and serious learning of their behavior, the caretaker has a good chance of knowing what the patient is undergoing and when medical intervention is needed. However below are some few signs that can help the caretaker to know if there is need for any medical interventions? 1. If there are any changes that are noticed in the breathing patterns of the patient 2. Frequent coughing is also a sign for medical attention 3. Crying that is unusual for babies is a call for medical attention 4. Screaming and moving suddenly when touched is also a call for help 5. Losing appetite 6. Diarrhea and vomiting 7. Urination color changes 8. Fatigue and yellowing of the eye 9. Feet and hands that are swollen Pain management The patients are always expected to go to emergency rooms in case there are some severe pains on the patient. Some patients are so useful to their medications that they end up being addicted to the medications. However for small pains that are just starting, there are ways that the patient may use to ensure that they do not experience a lot of pain. The first step is for the patient to know the kind of medications that is needed to stop the pain. Make sure that the patient is still and tolerant as this will help the drugs to get well into their systems (Serjeant, 1985). Conclusion Sickle cell is a disease that can be well managed and the pain reduced during the crises times. 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