Thalessemia Outline

Anemia is a disorder of the blood. It occurs when your body does not produce enough erythrocytes or red blood cells (RBCs). Without the erythrocytes oxygen can not be adequately delivered to the tissues and organs throughout the body. This will cause you to become weak and tired. A person may also experience headaches, skin pallor, and faintness. Your body may attempt to compensate for these symptoms by speeding up the heart rate and respiratory rate. This is the body’s attempt to return oxygen levels to normal(Thibodeau and Patton, 2005).

As the concentration of hemoglobin in the Red Blood Cells falls below normal, the total Red Blood Cell count consequently decreases. Therefore, oxygen cannot be adequately carried. (http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/pted/htm/iron.htm).

bone loss. (Maxwell 2013 para. 13) Osteoporosis is the major disease this can lead to.

According to the study, the symptoms of anemia include malaise, lethargy, fatigue, swelling belly, pale skin, poor appetite, numerous infections, and crankiness.

This anemia results in fatigue and a number of the following problems;pain episodes, strokes, susceptibility to bacterial infections, particularly in children, leg ulcers, bone damage, yellow eyes or jaundice, early gallstones, lung blockage, increased infections, kidney damage and loss of body water in urine, painful erections in men, blood blockage in the spleen or liver, eye damage, low red blood cell counts (anemia), and delayed growth.

Anemia is a condition that effects “more than 3 million people in the United States” (Peterson, 2012). Anemia is a decrease in red blood cells (RBCs) or decreased hemoglobin in an individual’s blood. RBCs carry oxygen rich blood throughout an individual’s tissues and organs, allowing the body to function properly. Therefore, an anemic person has a decreased amount of oxygen rich blood flowing through their body. A decreased amount of oxygenated blood is not immediately life threatening but can become very serious. Some potential side effects of anemia are; fatigue, lack of energy, pallor, organ damage, heart failure and death (Peterson, 2012). There are multiple types of anemia with the most common being; iron-deficiency anemia, folic acid-deficiency anemia, vitamin B12 deficiency and microcytic anemia (PDRhealth, 2015).

The disease I choose to talk about is Sickle Cell anemia, which is a blood disease that is prevalent among the African American race. This disease is interesting to me because it is a hereditary disease, so it can only be contracted if your parents have the disease. Sickle Cell anemia is caused by abnormal hemoglobin, the red blood cells in your body contain two vital hemoglobin molecules, a protein that carries the oxygen through your blood to travel throughout the body. People with sickle cell anemia, they have two copies of abnormal hemoglobin referred to as hemoglobin S. The molecule is what causes the problems within the red blood cells, rendering them unable to properly complete the process of carrying oxygen where it needs to go.

blood disorders, such as hemolytic anemia (the rupture or destruction of red blood cells that lead to a decreased amount of red blood cells in your circulation, which leads to fatigue and weakness)

Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia is a blood disorder r that is inherited and it is also present at birth. Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia is just one of the many types of anemia, which are conditions that affect the red blood cells. When a person has anemia they have a shortage of RBC’s. Red blood cells are important in maintaining homeostasis in the body. The main functions of the red blood cells are to transport oxygenated blood to the tissues of the body. With that being said, when people suffer from anemia do not get the adequate amount of oxygen to the tissues of their body. The symptoms of anemia vary from person to person, some experience weakness, while other are more fatigued (www.ghr.nih.gov). Other symptoms include pale skin, chest pains and tachycardia or fast or irregular heart rate/ beat.

This disease can cause severe pain and fevers, anemia, circulatory problems, strokes, and even “sudden death.” The sickle cells are able to get caught in the capillaries and disturbs the circulatory system (Eckman 447). When a person has abnormal swelling in their feet and hands, this could be caused by a buildup of “sickle-shaped red blood cells blocking blood flow to the feet and hands.” When sickle cells damage an organ, this can make a patient more “vulnerable” to infections (Mayo Clinic Staff). For example, when red blood cells “get stuck in the spleen,” this causes a splenic sequestration crisis. When this occurs, most of the blood cells are sent to the spleen which leads to less red blood cells being able to circulate in the blood stream. Symptoms of a splenic sequestration crisis include, “shortness of breath” and “having pale

A lack of oxygenated blood will cause the heart to have to work harder, possibly leading to arrhythmias Vitamin B-12 deficiency interferes with the nervous system, symptoms due to nervous system damage may show even before the Pernicious anemia is discovered. If it is not diagnosed for a while it can increase the likelihood of stomach cancer

The deformity caused by sickle cell anemia results in a decreased oxygen carrying capacity by the cell, and that leads to a variety of related issues. Additionally, the lifespans of sickle cells are shorter than the lifespans of regular red blood cells, because sickle cells are brittle and break apart easily. On the macroscopic level, symptoms for sickle cell anemia vary for age. A common symptom for infants is swelling in the hands and feet, often referred to as hand-foot syndrome. The swelling is a result of blood flow back to the heart being blocked by clusters of sickle cells. Perhaps the most common and widespread symptom is chronic pain. The pain occurs because the sickle cells obstruct the flow of blood to miniscule blood vessels leading to the chest, abdomen, and joints. These episodes of pain, called crises, vary from individual to individual. Some individuals experience only one or two crises in a year, and others suffer from dozens. The crises also vary in intensity and duration. While less common than crises, sickle cell anemia also leaves many crippled with infections because the liver, an organ that helps combat infections, can become damaged or destroyed by sickle cell anemia. Other, less common, symptoms and side effects of sickle cell anemia include vision problems, jaundiced eyes,

Sickle beta thalassemia is an inherited condition that affects hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to different parts of the body. It is a type of sickle cell disease. Affected people have a different change (mutation) in each copy of their HBB gene: one that causes red blood cells to form a "sickle" or crescent shape and a second that is associated with beta thalassemia, a blood disorder that reduces the production of hemoglobin. Depending on the beta thalassemia mutation, people may have no normal hemoglobin (called sickle beta zero thalassemia) or a reduced amount of normal hemoglobin (called sickle beta plus thalassemia). The presence of sickle-shaped red blood cells, which often breakdown prematurely and can

In hypovolaemia, there is a reduction in organ blood flow and oxygenation around the body due to a lack of adequate circulatory volume, which, depending on the severity may lead to organ damage (Kettley & Marsh, 2016). To compensate with

Iron overload is the major cause of morbidity for thalassemia patients. Even non-transfused patients develop secondary iron overload, due to increased absorption of dietary iron. Iron overload is a leading cause of mortality and organ