Nigeria: Coping With Sickle Cell Disease - Unwarranted Agony of Innocent 'Sinners'

THE pain was indescribable; the scenario was pathetic. I couldn't find any rationalised way to justify why an innocent child should suffer the consequence of genetic "sins" committed, knowingly or unknowingly, by his parents. That was my first experience with a sickle cell victim. Although efforts have been geared towards curtailing the genetic traits of the factor in recent time, it is sad that relatively little has been done in terms of creating an intensive and extensive awareness.

Epidemiologically, it is unfortunate that every person that inherits the haemoglobin SS from carries parents (Hb S) inevitably suffers the devastating condition (SCD), characterised by excruciating pain scenarios. For a child to possess the Hb SS, both parents must have been carries of the Hb S. Thus the child's red blood cells (RBC) are determined by the two haemoglobins types the parents possess.

The common types of the Sickle Cell Trait are AS and AC; the two are carriers, not disease conditions, though there are other types. For instance, findings have shown that in a situation whereby a child inherited the altered haemoglobins from both parents, the genotype of such a child could be homozygous SS, CC or EE. On the other hand, the child's genotype could be heterozygous (AS, AC or AE) if he or she inherited the mutant haemoglobin from either of the parents.

Despite the fact that the sickle cell anaemia is neither contagious nor transmittable, the traumatic experience of sickle cell victims is nothing but needless pathological hereditary inflictions on innocent souls. The scenario is pain, pain, and pain in virtually all parts of the body.

Acute Chest Syndrome (ACS) is one of the commonest pains a sickle cell person undergoes, often. Also, due to chronic anaemia (deficiency of red blood cells), these people are susceptible to all manner of cardiovascular attacks, ranging from pulmonary arterial occlusion (obstruction of blood flow), hypertrophied myocardial fibres (excessive enlargement of the heart muscle), infarcts (localised necrosis - death of living cells) resulting from obstruction of the blood supply.