Health News of Saturday, 12 September 2015

Source: Torgbui Michael

The physiology of the Sickle Cell Gene

Opinion Opinion

In every human being's life, breath or air is very essential. Lack of it can cause stroke, cerebral palsy at childbirth, lack of muscle strength and sometimes death.

This breath in the body is carried to essential organs in the body and thus any organ that is deprived of this oxygen (which in layman's understanding is acquired via the air one breaths) That organ begins to degenerate and gradually dies. This oxygen from air is carried through the blood component in the body called hemoglobin.

This hemoglobin is made (from nature or configured from nature) to last for about 120 days and it gradually dies off right after which the body produces new set of hemoglobin that starts this whole oxygen transport process.

In sickle cell persons, this essential hemoglobin does not last for the 120 days that it is meant to take; it lasts only about 20-25days.

And the human body, despite its realization of the rapidly declined and gradual depletion of hemoglobin in the body, it does nothing to produce new hemoglobin until the end of the 120 days that it is naturally meant to do.

And when this happens (that is the depleted hemoglobin level), the body fails greatly in transporting oxygen from the air one breaths to the body organs.

With other conditions taking advantage of this compromise, the sickle cell person goes through severe body pains called crisis. The joints suffer most from this.

To help prevent this, drink lots of water, and one could take folic acid (but with a physician's approval) to aid and strengthen the already weak system due to this poor hemoglobin production issue, one could prevent excessive physical exercise that could unnecessarily place high demands on the already fragile hemoglobin condition.