A lecturer Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine and Health Science, University of Development Studies (UDS) Tamale, Evans Paul Kwame Ameade has revealed that about 50.7% of people have very little knowledge about the Sickle Cell disease.
According to the lecturer, sickle cell can be linked to suicide due to the stress and frustrations that comes with the disease which could easily cause a student or anybody to commit suicide.
‘Knowledge of the disease even among the elites in society is just in the average’.
The awareness was as a result of a research carried out the department of pharmacology under the school of medical science of the University for Development Studies (UDS).
The term sickle cell disease (SCD) describes a group of inherited red blood cell disorders. People with SCD have abnormal hemoglobin, called hemoglobin S or sickle hemoglobin, in their red blood cells.
Pharmacist Evans Paul Kwame Ameade made this known at a seminar organized by the department of pharmacology under the school of medical science of the University for Development Studies (UDS).
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, Pharmacist Evans Paul said the campaign seeks to educate 5000 students in both secondary and tertiary institutions in the country by the end of the year.
Pharmacist Evans therefore appealed to the general public to support the campaign to educate residents about the Sickle Cell disease.
People who have SCD inherit two abnormal hemoglobin genes, one from each parent. In all forms of SCD, at least one of the two abnormal genes causes a person’s body to make hemoglobin S.
When a person has two hemoglobin S genes, Hemoglobin SS, the disease is called sickle cell anemia. This is the most common and often most severe kind of SCD.
Some Forms of Sickle Cell Disease are Hemoglobin SS, Hemoglobin SC,Hemoglobin S?0 thalassemia,Hemoglobin S?+ thalassemia,Hemoglobin SD,Hemoglobin SE.
Cells in tissues need a steady supply of oxygen to work well. Normally, hemoglobin in red blood cells takes up oxygen in the lungs and carries it to all the tissues of the body.
Red blood cells that contain normal hemoglobin are disc shaped (like a doughnut without a hole). This shape allows the cells to be flexible so that they can move through large and small blood vessels to deliver oxygen.
Sickle hemoglobin is not like normal hemoglobin. It can form stiff rods within the red cell, changing it into a crescent, or sickle shape.
Sickle-shaped cells are not flexible and can stick to vessel walls, causing a blockage that slows or stops the flow of blood. When this happens, oxygen can’t reach nearby tissues.
FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale