A Patient's View Sickle cell becgins to manifest itself severely when fetal hemoglobin is replaced by adult hemoglobin.
"The child becomes pale, tires easily, eats porly and may complain of pain in the arms, legs, back and abdomen...When these symptoms become severe, this is known as a sickle-cell crisis. For variable periods...even chronically anemic patient's may go along without any complaints. Then with an attack of tonsilitis or common cold or sometimes for no apparent reason, they becomeacutely ill for a week or two. The first sign of crisis is usually loss of appetite followed by paleness and weakness. Pain in the abdomen, legs and arms may be severe and there may be some welling in the joints."
- M.I. Johnson, The World and the sickle-cell gene: a study in health education, New York: Trado-Medic Books, 1985, p. 54.As the children grow up, their hands and feet may swell, their spleen can get blocked by blood cells and therefore swell, bones can be destroyed, and, beyond these and many other symptoms, there is the risk of sudden death.
There are now known to be a cluster of sickle cell diseases, but we will focus here on the classic sickle cell anemia.
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