Breakthroughs in Sickle Cell Anemia

Researchers are making landmark breakthroughs in sickle cell research

-Jose Mercado

Sickle cell Anemia is a genetic disease carried by a recessive gene where the red blood cells malform and become sickle or crescent shaped causing red blood cells to die prematurely. This can pose a number or problems regarding not only quality of life, but also surgical complications, and injury prevention due to fragility. 

Since 1948 the National Institute of Health (NIH) has been working to improve clinical care and advancing the understanding of Sickle Cell 

    Some of the pioneering discoveries NIH has made are in the departments of NHLBI Multicenter Study of Hydroxyurea which demonstrated a medication called hydroxyurea reduced episodes of spontaneous pain in over 1/2 of severely affected adults with sickle cell disease. Another landmark in the war against Sickle Cell was the Sickle Cell Disease Treatment with Arginine Therapy or (STArT) for short Trial an experiment that found that people who suffered from sickle cell disease also had low amino acid levels of arginine in the blood formulating a medication that treats the pain in sickle cell carriers. 

In recent years trends and research show that an American who suffers from Sickle Cell can be assured progress is occurring as more and more funds are charitably being donated to research 

                                                                               

    Other treatments include blood transfusion, and bone marrow transplantation With so many groundbreaking discoveries and such a large number of resources it is only a matter of time before sickle cell anemia can be added to the long list of diseases humanity has treated and eventually will overcome. More experimental treatments yet to be approved are cell and gene therapy, CRISPR modification, and new medication yet to be approved by the FDA.

Conclusion 

My conclusionary statements are that Sickle Cell Anemia is a genetic disease that affects 100,000 people worldwide through its prevalence is shown to increase in the coming years. However, many medications and treatments exist to treat this disease and as we continue to research and develop and progress, we will soon understand how to treat sickle cell and furthermore all anemia 

References 

    Commissioner, Office of the. “The FDA Encourages New Treatments for Sickle Cell Disease.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, 18 June 2018, https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/fda-encourages-new-treatments-sickle-cell-disease.

    Pfizer. “Researchers Study a New Way to Treat Sickle Cell Disease.” National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/news/2022/researchers-study-new-way-treat-sickle-cell-disease.

    Team, The Healthline Editorial. “Sickle Cell Anemia: Types, Symptoms, and Treatment.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 11 June 2019, https://www.healthline.com/health/sickle-cell-anemia.