The Sickle Of Sickle Cell Disease - 1381 Words

Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited blood disorders that affects the red blood cells, specifically the hemoglobin. This disease is very interesting because it actually is said to have protective advantages against malaria in the traits heterozygous form. Some scientists, along with students at Kenyon college, claim that the sickle cell trait has evolved or has been naturally selected because it provides vital protection from malaria (Camperchioli). This is mainly backed by the fact that the sickle cell trait is most commonly found in areas where malaria is predominant. Sickle cell disease is a leading cause of death for children in Africa and has begun to spread all over the world, which is why it is important to understand how†¦show more content†¦Approximately 100,000 Americans have the disease and it is beginning to effect more people around the world and spreading due to technology and innovations (National Heart, Lungs, and Blood Institute). Malaria is also a deadly disease that effects many people. In 2012, it was found that over 600,000 people died from the disease and about half of the world live in areas that are at high risk of malaria transmission (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The relation between sickle cell and malaria is so important to study and understand because of the two severe diseases it deal with and the size of the effected population. According to A. Alison, there’s a possibility that people with the sickle cell trait have an advantage over those without the trait. In 1946, Beet ran an experiment involving 102 sickle cell infected patients from Rhodesia and only 9.8% of them had signs of malaria, where 491 patients without the sickle cell trait were also tested and 15.3% of them had malaria parasites. In another study the same experiment was conducted, but on African children. 27% of the children with the trait showed signs of the parasite, where 46% of the children without contained the parasite. The results show a large difference