Sickle cell: understand the disease!

Sickle cell is a disease of red blood cells. This disease is mainly found in children and rarely in adults. In Central India, the disease is mainly found in certain castes and tribes. This disease is hereditary. In ancient times, some changes were made in human genes to prevent malaria. Our cells contain pairs of chromosomes (chromosomes that contain genes). One chromosome comes from the mother and the other from the father. A mutation in a gene in one chromosome protects against malaria, but a mutation in the other chromosome causes the disease. When one chromosome is changed it is called a ‘trait’ or ‘carrier’.

In certain castes and tribes of Central India, the proportion of this ‘trait’ is up to 30-40 percent. A male and a female having a ‘trait’ combine the two ‘traits’ and produce a disease in the offspring. Of course, there is a 25 percent chance of this happening in every pregnancy, not every time. This disease is also found in other countries of the world. The disease is seen in the continent of Africa, the countries around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, and the immigrant Africans and native Red Indians and Hispanics in the Americas. Sickle cell disease in India is less severe than in other parts of the world.

Symptoms

  • Anemia
  • Fever in the body
  • Fatigue early
  • Sometimes joint pain
  • Inability to work hard
  • Slight swelling of the body
  • Increased shortness of breath with light exertion
  • Swelling of the spleen
  • Yellowish appearance of the eyes, feeling as if they are bulging
  • Jaundice

Treatment

There is no specific treatment for this disease, but doctors treat it according to the symptoms of the disease. Antibiotics are given once or twice daily as needed from age 3 to prevent infection. It consists of folic acid and mineral vitamin tablets. Children with sickle cell disease should be given complete vaccines prescribed by the doctor. According to recent research, this disease can be cured to a large extent by bone marrow transplant.

Work done for sickle cell diseases through Tamagadge Trust.


1) Conducting regular health checkups.
2) Providing free medicines to patients.
3) Organizing health camps in rural areas as well as slum areas.
5) Helping patients get blood if they need it.
6) Free testing of sickle cell disease.
7) Counseling of diseases from time to time.
8) Provision of ambulances for transporting patients. etc. work is done through our trust.
9) Conduct blood donation camp for sickle cell patients.

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