Hi! It’s Wali. I just met an amazing AUC student who was telling me about sickle cells. This was news to me. Do you remember what red cells are shaped like? Yeah, you’re right! They are like tiny donuts…well, most times they are; but in some people, they can do gymnastics and stretch to look more like bananas. These are called sickle cells.
People whose cells do this gymnastics have sickle cell disease. The French call it drepanocytose, the Spanish celula falciforme. Sickle cells don’t travel well around the body and block small blood vessels, so other cells can’t get all of the oxygen they need – this is called hypoxia. When this happens, muscles and bones hurt a lot and for a really long time – a painful crisis.
Sickle cell disease makes most people feel tired. They may get dizzy or faint. Banana-shaped cells get removed really quickly by the spleen (remember the organ that lives under your heart?) as they aren’t round little donuts.
The marrow doesn’t make good, new red cells fast enough, so there is a shortage of red blood cells. This is anaemia. A hard-working spleen makes extra bile too, so sicklers can go a little yellow, or jaundiced.
People with sickle cell disease need to take extra steps to stay healthy, prevent pain and jaundice. They have to drink plenty of water, stay warm and take breaks when they’re playing or exercising. They all try really hard not to get sick with colds or the flu as this can start a painful crisis.
Wali would like to tell you that people living with sickle cell disease need your support and understanding. They need your care! You can help prevent their pain; all of us iguanas are joining to plan how to do this today, June 19, World Sickle Day.
Over a million people in the world have sickle cell disease. It doesn’t get better or go away. Sickle cell disease is a hereditary condition, which means it is passed on from your mom and dad. The same way you look a little like your mom and a little like your dad, to get sickle cell disease, you need a gene from your mom and a gene from your dad. If you get it from one parent only, it is called sickle cell trait and you don’t get sick as often.
Sickle cell disease is more common in people who come from Africa. People from many other backgrounds have it too, because it helps protect you humans against malaria. I, Wali, and my lizard friends do not have sickle cell. But some medical students have it, so you can have sickle cell and become a doctor!
*In the last edition of Exploring Health with Wali where we introduced the topic of red blood cells, we made a mistake in using the jellyfish as an example of an animal that has red blood, rather than blue blood. However, jellyfish don’t fall into this category. Some examples of animals with blue blood are squid, shrimp, slugs and spiders. Sorry about that!
Authors: The AUC Sickle Support Group: Jasmin Millon, Oriena Mensah, Brianna Braithwaite, Raquel Kaizer, Wali and Dr. Colin Michie. Graphic: Be The Match Organisation.
