Essay On Sickle Cell Anaemia

Introduction

There is a relationship between where malaria and sickle cell anaemia occur. This topic is interesting because although there are different types of anaemia like iron-deficiency anaemia, aplastic anaemia, haemolytic anaemia etc. the allele for sickle cell anaemia provides protection against malaria when it is not expressed. Both of them tend to appear in the same area and this protection against malaria can control the recurrence of this disease in different parts of the world and reduce infant mortality, kidney failure, cerebral malaria and other long term illness caused by malaria.

Sickle cell anaemia is an inherited form of anaemia — a condition in which there aren't enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen throughout your body (Mayo Clinic). This occurs due to wrong coding for the protein in haemoglobin which causes haemoglobin to not form properly. This anaemia is a recessive gene and when an individual is a carrier, it provides an advantage against malaria. Malaria is a life-threatening blood disease caused by a parasite called Plasmodium that is transmitted to humans by an infected Anopheles mosquito through biting. Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease (MNT). Both sickle cell anaemia and malaria happen in Africa, South America and in some parts of Asia and the most deaths caused by the malarial

This leads to the question which is to what extent are individuals with sickle cell traits or anaemia protected against malaria. With different changes in the way the organs and cells function in the body and the enhanced protection by antibodies that are acquired along the way when the individuals are affected by the parasite, a carrier of the recessive allele for sickle cell anaemia will be protected against