Ahoj!🌍 Hope say you dey chill well well. Today, na June 19, we go gist about one serious matter wey concern plenty people for India and the whole world – Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). E dey affect around 1 million pple for India alone, and das why we dey observe World Sickle Cell Awareness Day today. So, make we break am down small small.
Sickle cell disease na one group of inherited blood disorders. Na genetic mutation dey cause body to produce abnormal haemoglobin. You sabi, haemoglobin na wetin dey help blood carry oxygen make body fit survive. But for person wey get SCD, e get as e be – the red blood cells dey change shape come turn like sickle (wey dem sabi call crescent). This one go make dem stick together and block the blood flow in the body (Wahala!).
Because of this blockage, people fit experience pain wey dem dey call ‘pain crises’. Imagine say blood no fit reach your organs; e go bad, right? Not just that o, sickle cells dey fragile, dey last for only 10-20 days, while normal red blood cells dey last for 90-120 days (so na double wahala!).
As SCD dey run for family, if both parents carry the sickle cell gene, the pikin go likely inherit am. But if one parent carry am, and the other no carry, the pikin go just get sickle cell trait. This one no mean say e go get symptoms, but e go fit pass am to him children. Di more serious type of SCD na sickle cell anaemia.
For India, states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra dey suffer plenty from this disease, especially among di tribal communities. Signs dey show from small pikin age, and symptoms fit range from mild to serious. Some symptoms na anaemia, tiredness, pain crises, swelling of hands and feet, yellowing of skin, slow growth, and frequent infections (who sabi wetin we dey talk about?).
The bad news be say plenty complications fit happen if person no manage SCD well. Issues like acute chest syndrome, stroke, or priapism fit make matter worse. As for treatment, management dey involve handling di symptoms and preventing complications. One option wey fit cure SCD na bone marrow (stem cell) transplant. But abeg, be ready for wahala, because e dey expensive and risky.
Recently, gene editing therapy don join di show, thanks to FDA approval like Casgevy and Lyfgenia therapy. Dis one fit really change lives, as we see twenty-twenty-four, one boy even receive dis treatment – dem say na di first for di world. The aim of dis new therapy na to attack di disease at di root. Sounds like science fiction, right? But na true!
In 2023, India come launch di ‘Sickle Cell Disease elimination mission’, promising to eliminate di wahala by 2047 with focus on local communities palliative and screening programs. But make we no kid ourselves; drug access still be serious issue for those wey dey struggle with di disease.
So, wetin you go carry go home today? Sickle cell disease dey real, and e dey affect many people wey no sabi wetin dey happen to dem. If you know person dey suffer from am, or even if you no know, sabi say we all fit help raise awareness. E no dey hard to talk or to show concern, plus preventive measures fit save many lives. So, as we dey observe this day, make we join hands to spread di message. Sickle cell no go stop we, together we fit fight am!💪
