This page aims to give you a better understanding of
Sickle Cell Anaemia, coming directly from someone who
has it, rather than from people who know what it's about,
but have no experience of what they are talking about.
I have experienced most of what I talk about in my
site, but I aim to tell you about Sickle Cell Anaemia
and all things related to it, like medication to
alleviate pain, and treatments to prevent pain as much
as possible.
Haemoglobin is the pigment that transports oxygen in
the blood. It is in the red blood cells and this is what
gives blood its red colour. There are many different types
of haemoglobin. Haemoglobin S, or sickle haemoglobin,
is responsible for Sickle Cell Anaemia.
Red blood cells with normal haemoglobin are able to retain
their shape when they release oxygen into the body. However,
when sickle haemoglobin releases it's oxygen the shape
of the red blood cell changes into a sickle-shape, sometimes
resembling an agricultural farmer's sickle. Red blood
cell that contain normal haemoglobin are flexible and
it is easy for them to flow through narrow blood vessels.
Sickled red blood cells find it difficult to get through
these narrow blood vessels, and so cause sickling. Sickling
or 'crisis' are words to describe when 'sickled' red blood
cells are trapped in veins and cause severe pain and other
complications.
To learn more about haemoglobin and inheritance of
Sickle Cell Anaemia, click HERE
