Sickle Cell Anemia and Red Blood Cell Physiology, Annotated Bibliography

Sickle cell anemia and red blood cell physiology function Introduction Sickle cell anemia is a disease in which the body forms crescent red blood cells. Normal erythrocytes are discotic. They are easily moved through the blood vessels and contain iron - rich proteins called hemoglobin. This protein carries oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the body. Sickle cell contains abnormal hemoglobin due to mutation of hemoglobin chain. This type of hemoglobin is called sickle hemoglobin or hemoglobin S.

Sickle cell anemia is a blood disorder affecting erythrocytes. Normal red blood cells are round. In people with sickle cell anemia, substances in hemoglobin - erythrocytes - become incomplete, changing the shape of erythrocytes. Defective hemoglobin called hemoglobin S (HgbS) replaces normal hemoglobin called hemoglobin A (HgbA). As time goes on, red blood cells become hard, shaped like crescent shaped satellites and sickles. In the United States, the disease is most common among African Americans (about 1 in 400 African Americans) and Caribbean Hispanics (1 in 1,000 to 1,400 Hispanics). The disease is seen all over the world in the Arab, Greek, Italian, Sardinian, Turkish, Maltese, South Asian breeds.

Sickle cell anemia (sickle cell disease) is a hematological disorder caused by hereditary abnormal hemoglobin (oxygenated protein in erythrocytes). Abnormal hemoglobin causes distorted (sickle) red blood cells. Sickle red blood cells are very fragile and fragile. When the number of erythrocytes declines from rupture (hemolysis), the result is anemia. This condition is called sickle cell anemia. Irregular sickle cells also block blood vessels and cause damage and pain in tissues and organs.