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| Signs and Symptoms of Sickle Cell Disease |
What
are the Signs and Symptoms of Sickle Cell Disease?
The signs and symptoms of sickle cell disease usually surface
when the patients are still quite young. The symptoms may show up in babies at
the early age of 4 months though they generally occur at a 5 to 6-month mark.
There are many types of SCD with similar symptoms that vary in
terms of severity. Here are the most common symptoms of SCD:
Anaemia
Sickle
cells usually break apart quite easily and die. This leaves your body with insufficient
red blood cells. Red blood cells typically live for around 120 days before the
need for replacement. However, sickle cells typically die in only about 10 to
20 days, leaving the patient’s body with a red blood cell deficiency, a
condition called anaemia.
Note that
when you do not have enough red blood cells, your body will have insufficient
oxygen, resulting in excessive fatigue.
Episodes of Pain
Frequent episodes of pain also known as
pain crisis are a key symptom of sickle cell anaemia. When sickle-shaped red
blood cells obstruct the proper flow of blood through tiny blood vessels to
your abdomen, chest, and joints, pain develops. This recurrent pain can also
develop in your bones.
Remember that this pain varies in severity or intensity and goes
on between a few hours and a few weeks. Certain SCD patients only experience a
few pain crisis per year. For others, the pain crisis occurs a dozen or more times
a year. Spending some time in hospital is necessary in times of severe pain
crisis.
The chronic pain some adolescents and adults living with sickle
cell anaemia experience is caused by ulcers, joint and bone damage, etc.
Swelling of Feet and Hands
The
swelling is as a result of sickle-shaped red blood cells that block proper blood
circulation to the patient’s hands and feet.
Frequent Infections
Your spleen
can be damaged by sickle cells, making your body more vulnerable to infections.
That’s why doctors usually treat infants and children that have sickle cell disease
with SCD vaccinations and antibiotics. This prevents them from potentially
life-threatening infections such as pneumonia.
Delayed Growth
With enough
red blood cells (RBCs), your body gets the oxygen and nutrients it naturally
needs for growth. When infants and children have less healthy red blood cells,
they experience slow or delayed growth and hence delayed puberty in teenagers.
Vision Problems
People with
SCD can experience a situation in which the tiny blood vessels responsible for
supplying their eyes with blood can be plugged with sickle cells. If this
happens, your retina can be damaged. The retina is the part of the eye that
processes visual images.
When Should
You See a Doctor
Typically,
sickle cell anaemia is diagnosed in infants via newborn screening programs.
Seeing a doctor on time is highly advisable. Some of the symptoms of SCD that
should make you rush to see your doctor also include, fever, pale skin,
yellow tint to the skin, symptoms of stroke, etc. If you and your children
or someone you are taking care of develops any of the signs and symptoms
discussed above, do not hesitate
to see your doctor or seek emergency medical care.
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