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Genetically MineGenetically Mine
With all the advances in science, now a lot that was previously unknown about man is now available. For people of African descent though, (Africans, African-Americans, Carib-Africans or Afro-Caribs, Afro-Asians, etc.) certain genetical dispositions are more common. The sickle cell gene also occurs in southern Europeans, Arabs, Turks, Iranians, and Indians.
Sickle cell (sickle shaped blood cells) can result in AS and SS dispositions in both male and female who are affected by it. While AS is evidence of a sickle cell trait, a person who is SS is considered a carrier, and usually suffers from sickle cell anemia, which can be effectively managed, but can take a toil all the same.
Some people are not even aware of their genetic make-up, let alone what their specific genotype and phenotype are.
Two people who are AA will both have AA offspring, while an AA and an AS may or may not have AS offspring, but will definitely not have SS children; while an AA and an SS (depending on whether the male or female is the carrier) have higher chances of having AS children, and an AS and another AS can have either AA, AS or SS children.
Usually a person who is AS is simply referred to having a trait or as a "carrier," while the person who is SS is considered a "sickler" and unlike the former which may not be aware of his genotype, the sickler because of obvious painful symptoms, cannot but be aware of his disposition, usually at an early stage.
| Quote: | | The difference between a sickle cell carrier and sicklers is much like the difference between a very healthy HIV positive individual and a full blown AIDS victim, although a sickle cell carrier can NEVER become a sickler, and CANNOT transmit the disease to others EXCEPT genetically . Since the carrier (heterozygous) state is symptom-free, many go about completely ignorant of their genotype. - Ajibola Ayoola |
Nowadays an increasing number of jobs in the U.S. require that you take a blood test prior to full employment. The fact remains that regardless of what you're told your blood is being tested for, you have no idea what is really being examined, and a job may or may not hire you for whatever excuses or reasons they choose to disclose to you. Their main concern is your insurance risk, i.e., their financial concern.
While jobs come and go, marital commitments are long-term, and deserve more informed consideration, but while genetic make ups are not totally controllable, compared to sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea, etc., should those who are not genetically perfect be evaluated or condemned for it.
Love is supposedly blind, but should one walk around asking "Are you genetically mine?" before making a lifetime commitment to a person s/he loves? Or worse more, even before they decide to commit to a relationship with those who may or may not eventually be worthy of consideration as life-partners?
The question now is whether it be sickle cell or some other genetic disposition, would you knowingly marry a person whose genetic disposition may affect the genetic outcome of your offspring or will you reject them solely for that reason?
Cxsm
20th April '06
© Cxsm 2006 All Rights Reserved
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So with such a high probability of having a sickle cell disease child, one needs to consider the risks and benefits of having and raising such a child. Yes, there are the wonderful technology that allows sicklers to live longer e.g. medications namely hydroxylurea (helps reduce the production of the deformed hemoglobin that is the basis of sickle cell anemia), folate (that is part of the building blocks for red blood cells) to chronic transfusions with normal blood and red cell exchanges where the abnormal blood in the sickle cell patient is removed by a specialized machine and is replaced by normal blood to keep the levels of the abnormal hemoglobin low.
But as with most medically related technology, the long term cost of raising a sickle cell anemia patient is pretty steep but doable as long as the levels of hemoglobin S (the medical term for the abnormal hemoglobin) are kept below a certain level either by long term medication or chronic transfusions over the person's lifetime. Need less to say, these options are not without side effects.
So, all in all, raising a sickle cell disease child is doable but not without difficulty over and beyond that of a normal child. So, it would be advisable to explore the many options to having such a child if the parents-to-be sickle cell status is known. Such options include adoption.
Felix
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