Since sickle cell disease is a blood disorder, it has many signs and symptoms. These symptoms may present after 4 months of age. The most frequently seen symptom is anemia. Sickle cells are fragile and break apart easily and die, leaving you chronically short on red blood cells. Red blood cells usually live for about 120 days before they die and need to be replaced; but sickle cells die after only 10 to 20 days. The result is a chronic shortage of red blood cells, known as anemia. Without enough red blood cells in circulation, your body can't get the oxygen it needs to feel energized. That's why anemia causes fatigue.
Another symptom is periodic episodes of pain, called crises. Pain develops when sickle-shaped red blood cells block blood flow through tiny blood vessels to your chest, abdomen and joints. Pain can also occur in your bones. The pain may vary in intensity and can last for a few hours to a few weeks. Some people experience only a few episodes of pain while others experience a dozen or more crises a year. If a crisis is severe enough, patients may be hospitalized.
Hand-foot syndrome is another sign of sickle cell disease. Swollen hands and feet may be the first signs of sickle cell anemia in babies. The swelling is caused by sickle-shaped red blood cells blocking blood flow out of their hands and feet.
Sickle cell disease causes frequent infections. Sickle cells can damage your spleen, which fights infections, and may make you more vulnerable. Doctors commonly give infants and children with sickle cell anemia antibiotics to prevent potentially life-threatening infections, such as pneumonia.
Delayed growth is seen in sickle cell disease patients. Red blood cells provide your body with the oxygen and nutrients you need for growth and a shortage of healthy red blood cells can slow growth in infants and children and delay puberty in teenagers.
A final symptom of sickle cell disease is vision problems. Tiny blood vessels that supply your eyes may become plugged with sickle cells. This can damage the retina, which is the portion of the eye that processes visual images.
I knew that sickle cell was a blood condition but I never put enough thought into it to realize that this disease effects every part of your body right down to the eyes. Is this something that they automatically look for in all babies when they do their heel stick because unless they presented with the hand-foot syndrome to red flag the disease its scary to think you're baby could have this disease which is slowly causing damage and it might not be caught until later. How does the pain occur in the bones as well and why does it only happen periodically?
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DeleteI am also curious about the sickle cell crisis and why it seemed to be more severe in some people and not others. I researched some articles on it and found that pain crises can be divided into acute pain and chronic pain. Acute pain is sudden and can be mild or severe. It also can last up to a week. Chronic pain is most often associated with the bones and can last for months. It can also result in damage to many organs in the body. However, you can control some of these episodes by keeping hydrated. Drinking plenty of liquids can help reduce painful crises.
ReplyDeleteThis was very interesting. I did not know how much sickle cell anemia can affect the body, even causing delayed growth. I also have never heard about hand-foot syndrome. I came upon this on the CDC's website looking for more information about sickle cell anemia and it states, "The reason that infants don’t show symptoms at birth is because baby or fetal hemoglobin protects the red blood cells from sickling. When the infant if around 4 to 5 months of age, the baby or fetal hemoglobin is replaced by adult hemoglobin and the cells begin to sickle."
ReplyDeleteI liked to read about the special symptoms of sickle cell disease, I was reading more about it online. I found out that there are also other symptoms that appear to a individual with sickle cell disease. One of them is priapism which occurs to males. They experience painful unwanted erections which over time can lead to impotence. Another one is gallstones due to the fact that dead rbc release hemoglobin which in turn is being turned into bilirubin. An excess of bilirubin will cause stones to appear in the bladder, people with gallstones would also have jaundice. Great post.
ReplyDeleteI like your topic because we have many patients with Sickle Cell disease and i always like to know more about it. i found an article for the treatment of sickle cell disease that says, it can be treated with the medicine called hydroxyurea. this medicine prompts the body to make fetal hemoglobin or hemoglobin F, the type of hemoglobin that newborn have which prevent red blood cell from sickling and imoroves anemia. by taking this medicin daily, hydroxyurea reduces often painful sickle cell crises and acute chest syndrome and also need fewer blood transfusion and have fewer hospital visits. Early studies in children suggest that the medicine may help improve growth and preserve organ function but this has not been proven. it is strongly recomended for people who takes this medicine must have careful follow up, include blood tests because hydroxyurea can reduces the number of white blood cells in the body which can lead to an increased risk of infections.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post. I also find it interesting that antibiotics are given to prevent infection in sickle cell patients. I did a little research, and it turns out that infection is the leading cause of death in young children with sickle cell disease. Still, I wonder how effective the antibiotics truly are, especially when given over years and years.
ReplyDeleteHemoglobin S causes red blood cells to form a sickled appearance. Because of this sickled shape, these cells don’t function properly and are only able to deliver very little oxygen to various parts of the human body. These cells can get stuck and block blood vessels, causing an even greater decrease in the amount of oxygen flowing throughout the body. When sickle cell patients need surgery, transfusions prior to operation helps dilute the sickled red blood cells and increase the oxygen level. Transfusions can unfortunately also cause the development of antibodies and an increase in infection rate.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that there were so many other symptoms of Sickle Cell Disease, like the swollen hands and feet of babies. That is truly interesting that that is a method of screening in babies. I also could not possibly imagine how much pain little children go trough when they have a sickle crisis. It is unfortunate that they could possibly have pain not just for a few hours but pain up to a few weeks.
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