Sample Literature Review On Sickle Cell Anaemia:

Sickle cell anaemia is a disorder that is hereditary. It is associated with the red blood cells where haemoglobin which is an important component for carrying blood for carrying oxygen is synthesized as abnormal. This leads to impairments in the circulatory system where efficiency in oxygen transportation is greatly reduced. The abnormal haemoglobin makes the cells become rigid and gives them the sickle shape (Peterson, 2009). Sickle cell anaemia is a disorder that causes adverse health problems such as strokes, infections and even deaths. Recent studies have shown significant variations in how the disorder affects the population with one aspect being race (Bjorklund, 2011). Study show that there is high prevalence of sickle cell anaemia among African Americans. This essay is therefore important because it will try and analyse various facts and information that explain the high prevalence among African Americans.

Epidemiology

Sickle cell anaemia is very prevalent in people whose origin come from sub Saharan Africa this is based on the number of children born with the disorder from which a great percentage originates from this region of the world. People from other parts of the world are also affected but not as much as those with an African origin. In the US African American have been found to victims of the disorder. According to data and statistics from the centre for disease control CDC, in every five hundred African American births, one is born with the disorder. This is the highest compared to other racial groups in the country (Data & Statistics on Sickle Cell Disease, 2015).

Transmission

The disorder is hereditary and is associated with mutation of the gene for haemoglobin production. For an individual to have the disease they have to inherit two of the defective genes one from the father and the other from the mother. Individuals with a single gene do not have the disorder but can pass the gene to their offspring (Ancestry of African Americans with Sickle Cell Disease, 2015). These individuals live normal lives.

Prevalence

The percentage of African Americans with the trait is approximately nine percent of the population. This is information is got through therapies that involve renal replacements. It is based on haemoglobin phenotyping that is done in centres that perform dialysis. This is also coupled with information from screening for the haemoglobin traits for new born babies in hospitals. This information attested the high prevalence of sickle cell disease among African Americans. This information also provided evidence of an association between sickle cell trait and disease with renal complications (Sickle Cell Disease & African Americans, 2015).

Conclusion

Sickle cell anaemia is therefore a very prevalent condition in the world with very adverse health effects. It is a condition associated with transport of oxygen through the blood where, the medium which is haemoglobin is not efficient enough in the task because of abnormalities. It attributed to mutations of the gene that is associated with the production of haemoglobin. The abnormalities in haemoglobin results to adverse health issues such as development of conditions such as stroke, hypertension and is greatly associated renal problems among those with the disease. The disease is caused by two of the defective genes which from both parents. Individual with one of the gene do not have the disease because the disease only occurs in heterozygous individuals with the defective gene. The individuals therefore, carry the gene but it does not affect them (Derebail et al, 2010).

References

Ancestry of African Americans with Sickle Cell Disease. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3116635/
Bjorklund, R. (2011). Sickle cell anemia. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark.
Data & Statistics on Sickle Cell Disease. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2015.
Derebail, V., Nachman, P., Key, N., Ansede, H., Falk, R., & Kshirsagar, A. (2010). High Prevalence of Sickle Cell Trait in African Americans with ESRD. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 413-417.
Peterson, J. (2009). Sickle cell anemia. New York: Rosen Pub.
Sickle Cell Disease & African Americans | BlackDoctor. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://blackdoctor.org/2170/sickle-cell-disease-african-americans/