Sickle cell anemia is an inherited disorder that allows for some treatment, however the average life expectancy of a patient will Sickle cell anemia is only 30 years. An inherited gene causes the hemoglobin in the blood to become misshaped. Hemoglobin is the part of the red blood cells (RBC) that carries the oxygen to all of the body’s tissues and organs. This leads to inadequate amounts of oxygen to be carried on the hemoglobin, thus resulting in insufficient oxygenation for the patient. In order to fully understand Sickle cell anemia this paper will look at the following: description, risk factors, inheritance pattern, statistics, body systems most affected, prenatal screenings available, and nursing implications for practice. …show more content…
644). Autosomal recessive disorder is defined as a mutation of two gene pairs on a chromosome and if the patient inherits only one copy of the allele, the disease will not develop but rather the child will be a carrier (Lewis et al., 2014, p. 193). Males and females are affected equally and heterozygotes are carriers of the mutated gene but remain asymptomatic (Lewis et al., 2014, p. 193). Children of two heterozygous parents have a 25% chance of being affected and a 50% chance of being carriers of the mutated gene (Lewis et al., 2014, p. 193). There is a 25% chance that the child will be neither a carrier nor affected by the trait (McKinney et al., 2013, p. …show more content…
645). Across the lifespan considerations include prompt diagnosis and treatment in newborns, children, and adults. The sickling episodes are usually reversible if reoxygenation occurs (McKinney et al., 2013, p. 1245). Reoxygenation is fundamental is preventing permanent damage to the RBCs. Life expectancy of Sickle cell anemia is only about 30 years (Lewis et al., 2014, p.644). Statistics for patients with Sickle cell anemia in the United States include between 90,000 to 100,000 people affected by the disease with an estimated 448 million dollars annually for health care related costs associated with Sickle cell anemia (Dobson et al., 2014, p.