Sickle Cell Anemia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Sickle Cell Anemia - Essay Example 1995, the life expectancy for African Americans is 42 years for males and 48 years for females. Median survival is approaching 50 years. In the population at large, for African American males without Sickle Cell anemia according to the 2001 census figures is 68.6 for males and for females it is 75.5 years." (NVSR) Sickle Cell Amenia's major danger is the propensity to crisis. With fever, dehydration, insufficient oxygen, or a disturbance of the body's acid balance, the number of sickle cells greatly increases. They become log-jammed in small blood vessels, completely blocking flow and preventing oxygen from entering. Then more red blood cells stiffen. Tissues suffer from lack of blood flow, excruciating pain develops, and areas of tissue may die. A Sickle Cell crisis is difficult to treat. The patient needs adequate water to prevent dehydration, and often transfusions of normal red blood cells are required", (LIFE) I have developed mice models of Sickle Cell Anemia and they are being used to evaluate the effectiveness of a cure for Sickle Cell Anemia. 3 My research thesis is that certain people are generally disposed to the thiocynate deficiency (a deficiency of vitamin B12-a necessary component to healthy blood cells.) This deficiency causes blood cells to sickle, and it the root cause of Sickle Cell Anemia and its resulting complications. Our Sickle Cell Anemia mice models show that once this thiocynate is present in significant quantity in the blood system, there is an... Genes and Disease, Blood and Lymph Diseases, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institute of Health, Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Retrieved on line on April 13, 2006 from, www.ascaa.org