Sickle Cell Anemia: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

Running head: SICKLE CELL ANEMIA 1
Sickle Cell Anemia
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

SICKLE CELL ANEMIA 2
Sickle Cell Anemia
Introduction
Sickle Cell Anemia is a genetic condition that impacts the red blood cells (hemoglobin in
particular) of the human being (Benenson, Porter, & Vitale, 2018). The condition (SCD) is a
blood condition which is characterized by inheritance from the father, mother, or both.
However, both parents have an obligation to deliver the abnormal gene to the offspring for the
condition to exist (Piel, Steinberg, & Rees, 2017). Otherwise, the children can only inherit the
condition and became carriers of the condition. Sickle cell anemia makes the red blood cells to
become sickle-shaped upon the removal of oxygen. The conditions is autosomal recessive; hence
an individual can either become infected or be a carrier depending on the genetic makeup of the
parents.
Sickle Cell Case Study Description
Sickle cell anemia is the most commonly known SCD (Xu et al., 2017). Following the
case provided, both Clement and Marsha are carriers of the condition. Furthermore, their
firstborn lacks the disease hence their chances of having a kid with the condition are 25%
following the fact that they had a one out of four chances of having a kid with the disease. The
primary condition having sickle cell anemia includes inheritance of the sickle cell trait from both
parents (Slaughter, & Dilworth-Anderson, 2017). The figure below illustrates the probabilities of
having a kid with the condition with respect to the provided case study.
Clement (AS)/ Carrier Marsha (AS)/ Carrier
First Child AA/ Normal 2nd Child = AS/ Carrier

SICKLE CELL ANEMIA 3
Third Child AS/ Carrier Fourth Child = SS/ Sickle Cell Anemia
AA= Normal child = ¼ = 25%
AS= Carrier child= 2/4 = 50%
SS=Child with Sickle cell Anemia= ¼= 25%
Retrieved from: (Tanabe et al., 2019)
Following the table above, the likelihood of having a normal child are 25%. The chances
of having a carrier are 50%. The likelihood of having a kid with the condition is 25%. However,
the fact that Marcha and Clemont have already had the first child who is a normal child puts the
next birth a higher probabilities of either being a sickle cell anemia child or a carrier. Most
importantly, there is a higher chance of the second kid being a carrier (50%).
The mutation responsible for causing sickle cell anemia is one out of three billion. The
mutation occurs in the globin B gene (Ware et al., 2017). After the occurrence of the disease, the
hemoglobin becomes sticky and stiff and develops into sickle shape when they lose oxygen.
After this incidence, the sickle cells cluster together making them harder to move through the
blood vessels. This ultimately hinders the transportation of oxygen by the red blood cells.
Following the case provided, Marsha is more concerned that the likelihood of having a
child with sickle cell anemia is high is the child is a boy. This information is incorrect following
the fact that the likelihood of developing sickle cell anemia is not gender-specific. The chances
are equal is women, as well as they, are in men. With respect to the probability table, the parents
have a 50% probability of having a carrier child and 25% likelihood of having a kid with the
disease regardless of the gender of the respective child.