Do I Have Sickle Cell Disease?
Blood Testing for Sickle Cell Disease
Sickle cell disease affects mainly African and Mediterranean descendants. It does appear in other area like the Middle East, South and Central America and the Caribbean.
Sickle cell disease is inherited. If both parents carry the gene, the child will develop sickle cell anemia. If only one parent has the gene, the child will have the trait, but will show no symptoms of the disease.
A blood test determines if the patient has the sickle cell disease or is a carrier of the disease. From the lab test, the blood cells of a person with sickle cell disease will present with red blood cells that are deformed. Healthy red blood cells should be round and carry the much-needed blood throughout the body.
If the blood test determines sickle cell disease, the red blood cells are crescent shaped or also known as sickle shaped. This is due to an abnormal protein in the hemoglobin called hemoglobin S. The normal hemoglobin is called hemoglobin A. Sickle blood cells do not hold up well as regular cells do, which causes the body to destroy the sickle cells quicker. This of course, leads to anemia and is diagnosed with a blood test. If left untreated, there is far more damage to the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, bones and muscles that make an undiagnosed case fatal at an early age.
Luckily, today, all babies born in all 50 states of America have a simple blood test taken from the heel of the baby at birth. It can diagnose whether the baby has normal hemoglobin or if there is abnormal hemoglobin in the lab test.
Under normal circumstances, babies do not present with any symptoms until after the age of 4 months. Lab test can be administered again at this stage to determine how serious the sickle cell disease is.
Some of the tests for diagnosis and monitoring the progression of sickle cell disease in the patients include:
* Bilirubin
* Serum creatinine
* Sickle cell lab test
* CBC blood test
* Hemoglobin electrophoresis lab test
* Serum potassium blood test
Treatment consists of managing and controlling the painful symptoms with medication and trying to reduce the number of crises a patient may have. One of the most important factors in stopping this disease is through genetic testing and counseling to help couples cope with the possibility of not having children if they both carry the gene for this dreadful disease.