Sickle cell disease, also known as sickle cell anemia, affects the red blood cells. The disease is inherited and present at birth. Sickle cell disease is a chronic and includes complications, such as organ and tissue damage and painful episodes. Sickle cell disease primarily affects blacks, but people with Asian Indian, African, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ancestry are also affected. In addition, Latino Americans of South American, Caribbean and Central American backgrounds can inherit the disease. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), sickle cell disease affects approximately 70,000 Americans.
Sickle Cell Trait Cause
Sickle cell trait has no symptoms. Individuals with the trait have no health problems. According to Life Steps, there is a theory why the sickle cell trait became a genetic mutation thousands of years ago: The trait provided protection against malaria. So, individuals with the trait had an increased chance of surviving the infection if they were bitten by a mosquito that carried malaria.
Parents
Although the trait is a good gene to have, it creates a problem when two traits become a disease. Thus, to inherit this disease, both of your parents have to have a sickle cell trait. Approximately 2 million people in the U.S. have the sickle cell trait, according to NHLBI. That breaks down to about one out of every 12 blacks. Children inherit two copies of the hemoglobin gene --one from the father and one from the mother. Two normal genes will produce hemoglobin A. But if your mother and father have a hemoglobin A gene and hemoglobin S gene--the abnormal gene--sickle cell disease is a possibility.
Types of Sickle Cell
Besides the inherited abnormal hemoglobin S, there are several types of the sickle cell disease. Individuals who have the HbSC form of the disease inherit one normal gene and an abnormal type of hemoglobin C. With HbS beta thalassemia, children inherit one sickle cell gene and one gene for beta thalassemia. Beta thalassemia is a type of anemia that can cause extreme health issues.
Chances to Inherit
Your chances to inherit sickle cell disease depend on which genes you receive from your parents. You have a 25 percent chance to inherit two normal hemoglobin genes if they both have the trait. You have a 50 percent chance to inherit one abnormal gene and one abnormal gene, and you have a 25 percent chance inherit two abnormal genes.
Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin is the iron-rich protein in the blood that performs two functions: sending oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body and giving blood its red coloring. With sickle cell disease, the hemoglobin sticks together once it transports the oxygen to the body's tissues. Since the hemoglobin clumps together, it resembles liquid fibers and causes the red blood cells to stiffen. Instead of a circle, it resembles a "C" or sickle. These C-shaped cells also stick together and become caught in the blood vessels.
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