Sunday, May 25, 2014

Sickle Cell Charities For Children Will Help Families With Free Medical Care

By Marci Glover


The healthy red blood cells in the healthy individual distribute oxygen to the entire body. Children who have the trait have a deficiency of these healthy cells. Fortunately, they are helped by sickle cell charities for children with health and other care.

This disease cannot be cured, but, in most cases the pain can be reduced. The signs of the disorder show up after a baby is four months old. They include a pain crisis, fatigue, swollen feet and hands and visual problems due to damaged retinas.

The symptoms leading to diagnosis may appear later in childhood. Severe illness is indicated by abdominal pain, a yellow tinge to the whites of the eyes, fever or the signs associated with a stroke. You may notice paralysis on one side of the body or face. These are emergency situations.

When only the mother or father has this gene, the child will not have it. A baby who shows the symptoms will have two parents who carry the gene. When both parents have it, if the baby does not show evidence of the disease, he or she may still be a carrier, capable of transmitting it if she or he grows up and becomes a parent.

It is not a given that all babies of a mother and father who carry the trait will suffer from sickle cell anemia. They have a twenty-five percent risk of their baby being born with the disease. The possibility of them having a baby who is a carrier is fifty-percent.

People from the Mediterranean, Africa, India or Central or South America are the ones who suffer this genetic disorder. The black and Hispanic individuals who have this abnormal gene are prone to serious symptoms. They can be fatal.

Another possible concern is high blood pressure in the lungs indicating pulmonary hypertension. The baby or child will be short of breath. The breathing pattern will be labored.

If oxygen flow is obstructed, major problems in organ function can result. Excessive bilirubin can build up in the liver in some children. These organ functions are necessary for life to continue.

If the flow of oxygen to the kidneys, spleen or liver is blocked these organs can break down. Excessive bilirubin can build up in the liver, for example. When these major organs stop functioning, it can result in death.

Blindness is another possible result. The disease can cause obstruction of the tiny blood vessels that take oxygen to the eyes. Vision can be lost completely. Gallstones may develop in the gall bladder because of an abnormal increase in the bilirubin level.

Well-known charities improve the lives of children who are stricken with this damaging genetic disease. They provide the leading hematologists, doctors who specialize in blood disorders, and specialized nursing care. One of the latest developments is stem-cell transplantation surgery.

One such charity has been involved in research into sickle cell for over fifty years. Research grants and donations from other sources are used to fund it. The parents and children are not charged for any of the care.

Prevention of this genetic disorder is the only way to eradicate it. Potential parents will need to undergo testing for the gene prior to having children. Those who are carriers can decide to abstain from having babies who might be born to suffer. There is always a high risk factor if both prospective parents carry the gene.




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