Question

In people with sickle-cell disease, red blood cells break down, clump, and clog the blood vessels. The blood vessels and the broken cells accumulate in the spleen. Among other things this leads to physical weakness, heart failure, joint pain, and brain damage. Such a suite of symptoms can be explained by __________.

Answer 1

The “sickled” or “crescent” shape of the cell which causes the blood cells not to flow normally or adequately to the body tissues occasionally getting stuck and can form a clot. This is caused by the atypical hemoglobin molecule called “hemoglobin S” which is the reason the cells are deformed into a crescent shape