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| a condition caused by a decrease of oxygen in the blood |
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Sickle cell anemia (uh-NEE-me-uh) is the most common form of sickle cell disease (SCD). SCD is a serious disorder in which the body makes sickle-shaped red blood cells. “Sickle-shaped” means that the red blood cells are shaped like a crescent.
Normal red blood cells are disc-shaped and look like doughnuts without holes in the center. They move easily through your blood vessels. Red blood cells contain an iron-rich protein called hemoglobin (HEE-muh-glow-bin). This protein carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
Sickle cells contain abnormal hemoglobin called sickle hemoglobin or hemoglobin S. Sickle hemoglobin causes the cells to develop a sickle, or crescent, shape.
Sickle cells are stiff and sticky. They tend to block blood flow in the blood vessels of the limbs and organs. Blocked blood flow can cause pain, serious infections, and organ damage. |
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| Sickle cell trait (or sicklemia) describes a condition in which a person has one abnormal allele of the hemoglobin beta gene (is heterozygous), but does not display the severe symptoms of sickle cell disease that occur in a person who has two copies of that allele (is homozygous). |
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| excessive or abnormal increase in the number of erythrovytes; results from bone marrow cancer; high altitudes where the air is thinner and less oxygen is available; causes blood to flow sluggishly in the body and impairs circulation |
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| white blood cells are able to slip into and out of the blood vessels |
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| the process of white blood cells locating damaged tissue and infection by responding to certain chemicals that diffuse from the damaged cells |
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| white blood cells form flowing cytoplasmic extensions that help them move along during positive chemotaxis |
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| a condition in which white blood count is above 11,000 cells/mm cubed; indicates that there is a bacterial or viral infection |
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| abnormally low white blood count, caused by certain drugs such as corticosteroids and anti-cancer drugs |
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| a disease in which bone marrow becomes cancerous |
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| granule-containing white blood cells; neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils |
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| lack visible cytoplasmic granules; lymphocytes, monocytes |
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