The Issue Of Sickle Cell Disease In Africa And The Middle East
When thinking about overcoming issues, one quote that comes to my mind is by Helen Keller, in which she states, "Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. " There are many forms of suffering seen in our world today. Thousands of people endure famine, drought, and disease every year and struggle to overcome these burdens. Not only do people contract diseases every year, but they are also born with them. One disease that causes enormous suffering every year is Sickle Cell Disease.
Sickle Cell Disease, commonly associated with Sickle Cell Anemia, is when there is an irregularity in haemoglobin found in red blood cells. This causes the red blood cells to form differently, giving them a rigid, sickle shape. Since the red blood cells are misshapen, they can get stuck and clog veins and arteries. Symptoms may result in pain all over the body. When blood vessels block pathways that distribute blood, they are then preventing the supply of oxygen. This can then cause individuals to have minor pain all over. Infants can develop “dactylitis, ” the inflammation of the fingers and toes which can be extremely painful. Both infants and adults can also suffer from pain in their bones, chest, and back. When looking at how people obtain this disease, it is hereditary because it is past on from parent to child. The disease is autosomal, meaning the disease is recessive in chromosomes one through twenty-two. This means that if the father has one recessive allele, and the mother also has a recessive allele, then the child will be born with the disease. However, if one parent is born with the recessive allele, there child won’t be born with the disease, it will merely have that recessive allele. This disease is also considered to be mendelian.
It is considered mendelian because there is only one effect to one gene in this disease. (Science Direct)Seeing how diseases are transmitted, gives individuals the ability to see which geological populations are more prone to carry the disease. Looking at high child mortality rates, Sickle Cell Anemia is more common in many parts of Africa and the Middle East. The reason for this disease being very common in these areas, is due to high exposure to malaria. According to the New England Journal, sickle cell trait provides protection against severe malaria. Since sickle cell disease is found to protect the host from malaria, individuals bodies have been able to adapt to survive malaria. Some researchers have thus used this information to make studies as to why it would then be beneficial to have SCD in these areas. Not only can we see SCD in Africa and parts of the Middle East, through studies this disease can be traced to the new world. During the slave trade, many African slaves were taken to the new world in order to do hard labor on plantations. Plantations were very popular in areas of the Caribbean. Looking at this area today, scientists have seen many people of African descent carrying the SCD mutation. According to The Carest article, The United Nations considered SCD as a very serious threat to individuals and for years has been funding research to learn more about the disease. Throughout parts of the Caribbean, such as Jamaica, Cuba, and Gualeluope, clinical centers have been set up to see the best possible way to treat newborns who suffer from SCD.
Scientists hope that by targeting patients while they are still children, allows for editing in the hemoglobin genes in stem cells that are taken from the child’s blood-producing bone marrow. This edit is then transplanted back into the child’s back. Overall, the belief is that this treatment would be able to assist children with SCD so that they would no longer have to go to the hospital as often, miss a lot of school, and suffer from organ damage.
