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Many\u00a0 have been touched by this disease. I\u2019ve seen parents whose only child was a sickler, and having to cope with that child\u2019s death.<\/p>\nMany\u00a0 have been touched by this disease. I\u2019ve seen parents whose only child was a sickler, and having to cope with that child\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve seen families that have had to care for two or more sicklers.<\/p>\n
You will know that a sickler may have many painful crises in his or her life. You will also know that generally the life span of a sickler is lower that that of the general population. There are other complications though, including:<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Stroke: Everyone knows something about what a stroke is. What you probably don\u2019t know is that it can affect \u2013 and kill \u2013 babies and children too.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Organ damage: Nerves, kidney, liver, spleen and other organs can be damaged and lead to death.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Blindness: When the retina\u2019s blood vessels are blocked, this is the result.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Acute chest syndrome: This is a life-threatening complication affecting your lungs, requiring emergency treatment with antibiotics and other drugs and a blood transfusion.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Gallstones: These and\/or your gallbladder will need to be removed.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Necrosis (death) of the head of the femur, which fits into your hip socket, requires a hip replacement.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Impotence does occur, as does priapism, a prolonged painful erection. Not fun.<\/p>\n
Now,\u00a0 a person can have normal red blood cells, they can have the sickle cell trait, or they can have full blown sickle cell anemia. Any child of two normal people can only be normal. A normal person paired with a carrier (trait) will have 50 percent chance of producing a normal child, and a 50 percent chance of a carrier EVERY TIME A CHILD IS PRODUCED. This is important. Each time two carriers have a child, there is a 25 percent chance it will be normal, 50% that it will be a carrier, and a 25 percent chance it will be a sickler. Two sicklers can only produce sicklers.<\/p>\n
It is clear that many people have no clue about the disease; education is lacking. Genetic counseling is scarce. But on the other hand, it may surprise you that the desire to bear a child overrides all the applicable education that many have. Having a child in our culture is a measure of our masculinity or femininity. Some religious faiths encourage child, child, child, sickler or not.<\/p>\n
As doctors, we\u2019re not allowed to make value judgments, and we cannot dictate lifestyles, or our own preferences to patients, except where there is a clear risk to their health or life. But we try to preserve life or improve its quality for our patients.<\/p>\n
And we love children, poor, innocent, helpless children. Children who, of course, never asked anyone to bring them into the world.<\/p>\n
So let me ask a question? However you answer is between you and your conscience. If you know there\u2019s a substantial risk, even 25 percent, that you\u2019ll bring a child in the world to suffer serious health problems and a shortened life, should you take that risk? Think about it.<\/p>\n
See you next week.<\/p>\n
Dr. Victor Emanuel has been an educator of medical professionals in training, and the public, for over 20 years in Dominica. The contents of his articles are based on facts and research conducted, and not of his opinion.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many\u00a0 have been touched by this disease. I\u2019ve seen parents whose only child was a sickler, and having to cope with that child\u2019s death. I\u2019ve seen families that have had to care for two or more sicklers. You will know…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":17122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-talk"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n