Assignment: Blood Disorders

Running Heading: BLOOD DISORDERS Blood Disorders Athena Hackett Health and Diseases: Understanding Paths and Pathology June 20, 2010 Dr. Natasha Billups In each scenario provided each person is at risk of a specific disorder. The first patient Amy, who is the four year old Caucasian female, in my opinion is at risk for the blood disorder of Iron Deficiency Anemia. Next is person at possible risk of a specific blood disorder is Marcus. Marcus is a five year old African American male with a parent that carries the trait of Sickle Cell Anemia.

Therefore, the possible blood disorder he is at risk for is Sickle Cell Anemia. Last is Richard and his possible blood disorder he is at risk for is Thrombocytopenia. Each person has specific symptoms that make them at risk for the blood disorders I mentioned above. Amy is a four year old Caucasian female with symptoms of being tired, pale skin and she is a very picky eater. Most of her foods are starches and processed meats and drinks. Her foods seem to lack the desired amount of iron needed for a growing girl. According to webmd. om “decreased iron intake is a contributing factor in iron deficiency and the resulting iron deficiency anemia”. Iron deficiency Anemia is one of the more common cases of anemia. It can be controlled or prevented by adding more iron to a person’s diet. Foods that are high or rich in iron are red meats (beef), whole wheat bread, spinach, raisins and eggs. There are lots of other foods that are high in iron as well. If eating foods high in iron is not sufficient then a person can take iron vitamins to help with providing more iron to their diet.

With taking iron a person has to be monitored and advised on how much they are able to take. If a person takes too much iron it could be dangerous to their health. There are also side effects with taking iron. One of the most common side effects of Iron Deficiency Anemia is constipation. Some people will have to increase their fiber intake to avoid constipation. The next scenario mentioned was about a five year old African American male named Marcus. Marcus is at risk of having Sickle Cell Anemia because his mother is a carrier of that trait.

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On the website drkoop. com the definition of sickle cell is “is an inherited disease in which the red blood cells, normally disc-shaped, become crescent shaped. As a result, they function abnormally and cause small blood clots. These clots give rise to recurrent painful episodes called "sickle cell pain crises”. ” It is a very painful disease and presently there is no cure. The majority of people with this disease is African American and mentioned previously it is inherited.

Both parents have to be carriers of the trait for the child to have the disease. Due to the pain and discomfort patients are sometimes hospitalized for long periods of times. It can also be life threatening or there are severe crisis the person has to deal with. There are several types of crises are: Hemolytic crisis (occurs when damaged red blood cells break down); Splenic sequestration crisis (when the spleen enlarges and traps the blood cells); and Aplastic crisis (when an infection causes the bone marrow to stop producing red blood cells).

Every patient with Sickle Cell Anemia will go through one or all of these crises at some point in their life. They can last from a few days to weeks or months. They affect the bones in the person’s body and eventually can cause damage to a major organ or several major organs. The last scenario mentioned was in regards to a male named Richard. Some of his symptoms were red spots around his eyes and bruises or ecchymosis all over his body. Based on those symptoms I thought me may be at risk of Thrombocytopenia.

Thrombocytopenia is low blood platelet count. According to the mayoclinic. com “platelets (thrombocytes) are colorless blood cells that play an important role in blood clotting. Platelets stop blood loss by clumping and forming plugs in blood vessel holes”. This particular blood disorder usually starts because of another disorder such as leukemia or an immune system malfunction, or as a medication side effect. One of the good things about his disorder is that it can be reversed if one of the other disorders is treated.

In some cases if the disorder is chronic then medication, surgery or blood transfusion will reverse this disorder. There are many different types of blood disorders. From each scenario I was able to determine that some disorders can be treated without medication and just require dietary changes. Mean while others are not curable and are very painful to the person with that disorder. I was also able to discover that other disorders can bring on some blood disorders and are curable once you treat or cure the underlying problem.

REFERENCES webmd. com dr. koop. com mayoclinic. com

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