Sickle+Cell+Anemia+C

__ **Sickle Cell Amemia** __
     ** __How common is the disorder?__ ** If one of the parents has sickle cell than the child has a 50% chance of getting sickle cell.
 * __What is Sickle Cell Anemia?__**
 * This disease is a condition where the red blood cells are produced in a sickle (crecent-moon) shaped cell, instead of being round.
 * Sickle blood cells don't move easily through the blood cells and cause blockage to limbs, causing a lot of pain for the person.
 * Anemia is where there is a low amount red blood cells being produced as well as a low amount of [[image:http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:xKYIyfeg8pTIWM:http://www.defiers.com/sc.jpg width="264" height="232" link="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.defiers.com/sc.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.defiers.com/scd.html&h=372&w=289&sz=17&hl=en&start=18&tbnid=xKYIyfeg8pTIWM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=95&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSickle%2BCell%2BAnemia%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den"]]hemoglobin in the blood. [|diagram]
 * **__What is hemoglobin?__** Hemoglobin is a protien that contains iron and brings oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the body.
 * **__What is hemoglobin?__** Hemoglobin is a protien that contains iron and brings oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the body.


 * __Symptoms__**
 * Fatigue
 * Rapid Heart Rate
 * Jaundice
 * Adominial Pain
 * Pale Skin
 * Nail Beds
 * Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes)
 * Weakness [[image:http://www.microscopyu.com/galleries/pathology/images/sicklecell/sicklecellanemia40x02small.jpg width="290" height="230" caption="Sickle Cell Anemia" link="http://www.microscopyu.com/galleries/pathology/sicklecellanemialarge.html"]]
 * Aches and Pains in Joints
 * Fever
 * Vomitting
 * Bloody Urination
 * Excessive Thirst
 * Runs in Family
 * __Statistics__**
 * sickle cell affects 8 out of 100,000 people
 * Cases are more common in African Americans, affecting 1 out of 400 people
 * About 72,000 people in the US have the disease
 * 2 million people in the US carry the genetic trait of sickle cell anemia.


 * __Dealing with Sickle Cell Anemia__**
 * Though there is no cure for sickle cell anemia, there are medications where it can stimulate the blood to make other types of hemoglobin.
 * Hydroxyura is a cancer medication that helps the patients deal with the pain. It may cause complications in childhood development, however.
 * Nowadays, by living a healthy lifestyle, people with the disease can live into their 40's and 50's.
 * People with the disease should contact a doctor if they have any signs of infection.
 * They should avoid extremely cold or hot weather.
 * They should also have a very unstressful life.
 * Regular medical check-ups are also extremely important.


 * __Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness__**

"I will not stand to allow any more of my friends to die from this disease without the respect they deserve. I am offended by the Medical Community who continues to this day to use and feed us such negative language. I pray I never get sick in your beds." - Nazaire

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__**Our sites**__   http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Sca/SCA_SignsAndSymptoms.html http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/images/sickle_cell_02.gif http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/sickle_cell_anemia.html