Sickle Cell Anemia: Ways To Maintain An Optimum Health

I have few friends that are sickle cell. They always get sick, sometimes, they spent few months in the hospital..... infact, some live on drugs and blood transfusion all time. The rate at which people are dieing everyday because of this disease has become so rampant, so there must be a need to call our attention to it.

I can't imagine the record of each hospital will have on this case and mostly it's the fault of our parents. I wrote an article on how to know our blood group, blood group compatibility, Rhesus Factor, blood transfusion and the likes because some of us are ignorant of these important things.. We just based our marriage on love only, which is totally wrong. A good couple should consider their offsprings before getting married and not just bring death, suffering on the little children when they know they don't have what it takes to give them good care.

In this article, we are going to learn the deep meaning of sickle cell, causes, and how to maintain an optimum health.

Sickle cell disease is an inherited group of disorders, in which the red blood cells contort into a sickle shape. The cells die early, leaving a shortage of healthy red blood cells (sickle cell anaemia) and can block blood flow causing pain (sickle cell crisis).

What Causes Sickle Cell

Sickle cell occurs when 2 parents with carrier genotype, or sickle genotype come together, the offspring will have sickle cell.

So, here is what I mean.

As x As

As x AC

Ss x As

Ss x AC

Sc x AC

Sc x As

How do I know I have sickle cell disease, or if my neighbor has sickle cell disease?

1) Jaundice(Yellow discoloration of the eyes)

2) Pale skin, eyes, palm,and tongue.

3) Constant pain in the bones,which is usually excruciating.

Please, note that these could also be signs of other existing medical condition, hence, the confirmatory test is checking your genotype in a well known and trusted laboratory.

So, is having Sickle cell disease the end of the world?

No, it's not!

There are things to do to maintain an optimum health or to keep crisis as far away as possible. Like I said earlier, it's not the end of the world.

Tips To Maintain An Optimum Health

1) Water Therapy:

Please, this is one of the most important things. Always stay hydrated, *ALWAYS* this can not be over emphasized. Water helps to reduce the viscocity of the blood, hence, the movement of blood ND it's components in between blood vessels becomes easier, which leads to little or no pain.

2) Keep warm:

This is also important. Cold causes a form of clogging together or a sort of coagulation of red blood cells. This blocks the blood vessels, and it causes pain in the bone.

Remember we said it earlier that their red blood cells already appear like the shape of a sickle (the one they taught us in Agric, that is used to pluck rice), so, blood flow itself is a bit hindered, already.

3) Stay away from infection.

Infectious process the body causes what we call inflammation, hence, the blood cells may be further distorted leading to what was discussed in 2 above.

4) Stay away from Strenuous activities.

It's like someone prone to feel pain easily, now goes to do strenuous work, they don't go together. Stay out of any work that will give you stress. Sleep at the right time..

5) Supplement and Healthy Diet.

You should take 1 tablet of folic acid daily, to help build new and healthy blood cells, and also feed healthy to help build your immunity and make you stronger.

6) USE OTC (Over- the-counter drugs) drugs with caution

Use OTC drugs with caution because they are usually in pain, a lot of these people tend to abuse these OTC drugs, rather, go to the doctor for an appropriate prescription. The side effect of these drugs may be fatal sometimes.

7) DO NOT SMOKE:

Alot of people do smoke and they forget about the consequences. Apart from sickle cell, People should not smoke because it affect the lungs. It simply increases the pain.

8) Finding someone to talk with:

Ask if there are support groups for families in your area. Talking with others who are facing the same challenges you're facing can be helpful.

9) Exploring ways to cope with the pain:

Find ways to control or distract yourself from the pain. Pain medications can't always take all the pain away. Different techniques work for different people, but it might be worth trying heating pads, hot baths, massages or physical therapy.

10) Learning about sickle cell anemia to make informed decisions about care. If you have a family or friend with sickle cell anemia, learn as much as you can about the disease. Ask questions. Ask your health care team to recommend good sources of information.

Please, in case you have any question, or something isn't clear, or a terminology is not clear, please, call my attention, and I will explain it. Please read patiently to help someone stay healthy.

Thanks for reading...

Love you all