Sickle Cell Anaemia

Sickle cell disease is a genetic disorder which affects the red blood cells (RBCs) .The RBCs  of people with sickle cell disease   contain a different form of hemoglobin called haemoglobin ‘S’. This is an abnormal type of hemoglobin and RBCs containing this hemoglobin  become sickle shaped .They also become stiff ,and due their distorted shape they have difficulty in passing through  small blood vessels .When these sickle  cells, thus block the blood vessels less blood reaches that part of the body. Tissue that does not receive the normal blood flow eventually gets damaged .This is the main cause of the various complications  including increased incidence of infections encountered in sickle
cell disease.

Sickle cell disease is an inherited, life long condition. People who have sickle cell anaemia are born with it. They inherit two copies of the sickle gene from each parent. Sickle cell disease is prevalent world over including India. The major features of the sickle cell disease encountered in these patients include chronic  fatigue, severe anaemia,
pain ,crises, bacterial infections, lung ,liver and heart injury, leg ulcers, damage to the eye inflammation of the hands and feet, arthritis,  spleenomegaly  and chronic lung infections etc.

A constant search is going on to find a substance which can stop sickling of RBCs or which can at least offer lasting symptomatic relief  to a patient with sickle cell disease.

[ Sickle Cell Anaemia - Clinical Features - Ayurvedic_view ]