Awareness Month promotes better understanding of Sickle Cell Anemia
Sickle cell anemia is a worldwide disease. The disease is most common in people who trace their ancestry to areas of the world such as: Central America, Greece, India, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South America, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean. In the United States, more than 70,000 people are inflicted with sickle cell anemia. In the U.S. the disease is of particular concern for African Americans. Sickle cell anemia occurs in 1 in every 500 African American births.
Currently, there is no universal cure for sickle cell anemia – which is an inherited blood disorder. People who have the disease suffer from abnormally (sickle) shaped blood cells. Normal red blood cells last about 120 days, whereas sickle cell shaped blood cells last only 10 to 20 days. Normal blood cells are a smooth circular shape. In sickle cell patients, the misshaped blood cells cannot move sufficiently through the body’s small blood vessels. Common medical problems associated with the disease are: chronic episodes of pain; kidney & lung damage; stroke; and vision loss.
Last month marked the recognition of National Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month. In 1983, the month of September became the national awareness month for the disease after President Ronald Reagan signed Proclamation 5102 – which officially authorized September as National Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month. When he signed the proclamation on September 21, 1983, Reagan said: “Since the early 1970’s, the Federal government has conducted a National Sickle-Cell Disease Program. Coordinated by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, it promotes efforts toward prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of this disease. In addition, the National Institutes of Health have supported ten Comprehensive Sickle-Cell Centers throughout the United States.”
More recently, former President George W. Bush signed The Sickle Cell Treatment Act of 2003. U.S. Senators Charles Schumer & Jim Talent and U.S. Representatives Richard Burr & Danny Davis sponsored the act. The Treatment Act allows sickle cell patients to receive federal funding for community and educational programs. Additionally, the Treatment Act authorized the development of 40 sickle cell treatment centers in America.
The origins of Sickle cell anemia occurred in the early 1900s. In a fall 1998 essay titled: “The First Two Sickle Cell Anemia Patients in the Medical Literature – A Study of Contrasts,” Todd L. Savitt, Ph.D, of The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, explains the origins of the sickle cell disease.
In 1904, the first documented case of sickle cell anemia was recorded. The patient was Walter Clement Noel, a 20-year-old dental student at the Chicago College of Dental Surgery. Noel, who was born in the Caribbean island of Grenada, went to Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago in December 1904. Noel went to the hospital to seek help for a respiratory problem. Dr. Ernest E. Irons, a 27-year-old medical intern, gave Noel a physical and conducted a blood test. Dr. Irons noticed that Noel’s blood cells were abnormal. Savitt’s article explains that Dr. Irons reported his findings to the attending physician – Dr. James B. Herrick.
For the next two years Herrick and Irons continued to study Noel’s condition while Noel remained in dental school. Herrick wrote an essay titled, “Peculiar Elongated and Sickle-Shaped Red Blood Corpuscles in a Case of Severe Anemia,” about Noel’s ailment, in the November 1910 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
The second reported case of sickle cell anemia was diagnosed in Ellen Anthony, of Campbell County, Virginia in 1907. Anthony, who was a cook and housemaid, went to the University of Virginia Hospital to seek treatment for abdominal pain. Anthony returned to the UVA Hospital in September 1909 and again in July 1910. The physician who treated Anthony was Benjamin Earle Washburn, a medical student at the hospital. In February 1911, Washburn published an article in the Virginia Medical Semi-Monthly about Anthony’s condition. Washburn cited Herrick’s article which was published a few months earlier, indicating the similarities between Ellen Anthony’s condition and Walter Clement Noel’s.
Quick Facts about Sickle Cell Anemia:
Currently, there is no universal cure for sickle cell anemia – which is an inherited blood disorder. People who have the disease suffer from abnormally (sickle) shaped blood cells. Normal red blood cells last about 120 days, whereas sickle cell shaped blood cells last only 10 to 20 days. Normal blood cells are a smooth circular shape. In sickle cell patients, the misshaped blood cells cannot move sufficiently through the body’s small blood vessels. Common medical problems associated with the disease are: chronic episodes of pain; kidney & lung damage; stroke; and vision loss.
Last month marked the recognition of National Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month. In 1983, the month of September became the national awareness month for the disease after President Ronald Reagan signed Proclamation 5102 – which officially authorized September as National Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month. When he signed the proclamation on September 21, 1983, Reagan said: “Since the early 1970’s, the Federal government has conducted a National Sickle-Cell Disease Program. Coordinated by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, it promotes efforts toward prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of this disease. In addition, the National Institutes of Health have supported ten Comprehensive Sickle-Cell Centers throughout the United States.”
More recently, former President George W. Bush signed The Sickle Cell Treatment Act of 2003. U.S. Senators Charles Schumer & Jim Talent and U.S. Representatives Richard Burr & Danny Davis sponsored the act. The Treatment Act allows sickle cell patients to receive federal funding for community and educational programs. Additionally, the Treatment Act authorized the development of 40 sickle cell treatment centers in America.
The origins of Sickle cell anemia occurred in the early 1900s. In a fall 1998 essay titled: “The First Two Sickle Cell Anemia Patients in the Medical Literature – A Study of Contrasts,” Todd L. Savitt, Ph.D, of The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, explains the origins of the sickle cell disease.
In 1904, the first documented case of sickle cell anemia was recorded. The patient was Walter Clement Noel, a 20-year-old dental student at the Chicago College of Dental Surgery. Noel, who was born in the Caribbean island of Grenada, went to Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago in December 1904. Noel went to the hospital to seek help for a respiratory problem. Dr. Ernest E. Irons, a 27-year-old medical intern, gave Noel a physical and conducted a blood test. Dr. Irons noticed that Noel’s blood cells were abnormal. Savitt’s article explains that Dr. Irons reported his findings to the attending physician – Dr. James B. Herrick.
For the next two years Herrick and Irons continued to study Noel’s condition while Noel remained in dental school. Herrick wrote an essay titled, “Peculiar Elongated and Sickle-Shaped Red Blood Corpuscles in a Case of Severe Anemia,” about Noel’s ailment, in the November 1910 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
The second reported case of sickle cell anemia was diagnosed in Ellen Anthony, of Campbell County, Virginia in 1907. Anthony, who was a cook and housemaid, went to the University of Virginia Hospital to seek treatment for abdominal pain. Anthony returned to the UVA Hospital in September 1909 and again in July 1910. The physician who treated Anthony was Benjamin Earle Washburn, a medical student at the hospital. In February 1911, Washburn published an article in the Virginia Medical Semi-Monthly about Anthony’s condition. Washburn cited Herrick’s article which was published a few months earlier, indicating the similarities between Ellen Anthony’s condition and Walter Clement Noel’s.
Quick Facts about Sickle Cell Anemia:
- All 50 states in the U.S. have screening programs to detect sickle cell anemia in newborn babies.
- Research indicates that sickle cell anemia occurs in people from parts of the world where malaria is or was common.
Comments
Post a Comment