BLOOD DISORDERS

Blood Disorders Rachel Lowe University of Phoenix - Axia August 30, 2011

BLOOD DISORDERS Blood Disorders Thousands of people suffer from blood disorders all over the world. These blood

disorders can be life threatening if not caught within a timely manner. Some blood disorders are connected to each other, with few differences. For example, the blood disorder anemia is not a life threatening disease however sickle cell anemia can be life threatening if not caught and maintained. Three different patients are suffering from different blood disorders that can be linked because they are all blood disorders that deal with anemia. In the first case a 4 year old girl named Lilly goes to the doctor with a list of symptoms, these include fatigue, being very pale, and her mother claims that she is a picky eater. With just these simple symptoms the girl could be suffering from a number of illnesses. When the mother informs the doctor that the girl eats mainly pasta, bread, hotdogs, and fruit punch this narrows down the relative possibilities. A simple blood test shows that the girl is anemic. This means that Lilly has a lowered red blood cell count. This can happen in a couple of different ways, a loss or destruction of blood cells, or a lack or iron in the blood. Iron difeciant anemia is one of the most common forms of anemia(MedNet,2011). This type of anemia can be prevented by a healthy balanced diet. The child could take iron vitamins, or eat meals in higher iron. This would mean eating more red meats, or even beans. In the second case a 5 year old male is having blood work done to see if he has inherited a distructive gene that causes sickle cell anemia. Even though this disease is inherited, it can cause harm to the patient if both the mother and the father pass the destructive gene to the child. This is called a autosomal recessive inheritance. This form of anemia is when there is not enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body (MayoClinic,2011). A normal healthy blood cell is a rounded disc shaped cell, in a cell that is infected with sickle cell

BLOOD DISORDERS the blood cell is shaped like a sickle or a creasent moon. When this happens the sickle cells become sticky and dont flow properly through the veins, they tend to get stuck which in turn slows down blood flow throughout the body. This makes the body suffer from lack of oxygen.

With this disorder there is no way to prevent it from affecting children. It is all based on genetics and which genes the parents pass to their children. However with this patient the mother knew that she carried the trait so she was having her child checked. There are other symptoms to look for as well such as, anemia, episodes of intense pain, hand-foot disorder (which is when the hand and feet swell due to poor circulation) frequent infections, delayed growth, and vision problems. The third patient is a male that is suffering from Thrombocytopenia, this means that the patient is suffering from a low platelet count in the blood. This can happen for a number of reasons, however the main reason is when the patient is suffering from a separate disorder. Also platelets can either be destructing faster than normal or not producing as quickly as they should be. Symptoms of this disorder would be if the patient were to cough and blood leaks into the skin appearing as a rash. This in fact is not a rash but a symptom called petechial, this ususally occurs on the lower legs. Another symptom is prolonged bleeding from cuts and scratches, spontaneous nose bleeds, bleeding from the gums, or excessive bleeding during surgery or after having dental work done. This disorder can kill the patient if it is not detected quickly and maintained. When a patient suffers from this disorder, they lose the ability to clot, which means if they were to be cut deep enough they could potentially bleed to death. These patients are alike in the fact that they all suffer from blood disorders, each of these disorders are different however most of their sysmptoms are alike. Each of thse patients disorders need to be caught quickly to ensure that a healthy life can be lead. In the final two cases if the disorder is not caught quickly death can and will occur. When working with a

BLOOD DISORDERS patient that suffers from a blood disease all possibilities need to be checked to ensure that nothing is missed. Anemia is a symptom of sickle cell anemia and sickle cell anemia can be a symptom of thrombocytopenia.

BLOOD DISORDERS References Iron Dificiant Anemia, (2011) retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/anemia Thrombocytopenia (2011) Retrieved from www.mayoclinic.com