People with sickle cell disease produce unusually shaped red blood cells that can cause problems because they do not live as long as healthy blood cells and can block blood vessels. Sickle cell disease is a serious and lifelong health condition, although treatment can help manage many of the symptoms.
Why is being a sickle cell carrier an advantage?
The sickle cell trait provides a survival advantage against malaria fatality over people with normal hemoglobin in regions where malaria is endemic. The trait is known to cause significantly fewer deaths due to malaria, especially when Plasmodium falciparum is the causative organism.
How are sickle cells different from normal cells?
Red blood cells with normal hemoglobin are smooth, disk-shaped, and flexible, like doughnuts without holes. They can move through the blood vessels easily. Cells with sickle cell hemoglobin are stiff and sticky. When they lose their oxygen, they form into the shape of a sickle or crescent, like the letter C.
Are sickle cells good or bad?
People who have sickle cell trait are generally healthy. Only rarely do people who have sickle cell trait have complications similar to those seen in people who have sickle cell disease. But people who have sickle cell trait are carriers of a defective hemoglobin S gene, so they can pass it on when they have a child.1 sept 2020