Infant healthcare has always been one of the most extensive fields of scholarly research, as professionals are eager to define all the possible predispositions for all the possible health conditions as early as possible. However, one of the fascinating aspects of research concerns the investigation of genetic disease development, as it is of crucial importance to identify the means of condition identification and treatment patterns. Thus, one of the most widespread genetic health conditions among infants is sickle cell anemia, which stands for a sickle cell disease type characterized by the red blood cells’ inability to carry a sufficient amount of oxygen within one’s body (“Sickle cell anemia,” 2020). Thus, the following disease is usually inherited from one or two family members that obtain a sickle cell gene that has the ability to mutate (CDC, 2019). As a result, infants tend to experience issues with blood pressure and overall well-being in the future.
Common symptoms of sickle cell anemia include amenia and fatigue caused by a lack of oxygen, episodic pains, and problems with vision. However, the following symptoms extremely hard to detect at an early age. Hence, the first months of the infant’s life do not expose any physical predisposition for sickle cell anemia, creating the need for screening tests held shortly after the moment of birth (Brousse et al., 2018). The complexity of the following health condition is related to the fact that despite the years of meticulous research, many potential complications of sickle cell anemia remain rather unpredictable. As far as treatment is concerned, hydroxycarbamide is believed to be the most efficient medication for the following chronic condition, helping infants maintain the required level of hemoglobin in the blood (Brousse et al., 2018). Thus, the following condition requires immediate medical intervention aimed at reducing the risk of chronic diseases and strokes.
References
Brousse, V., El Hoss, S., Bouazza, N., Arnaud, C., Bernaudin, F., Pellegrino, B., Guitton, C., Odièvre-Montanié, M. H., Mames, D., Brouzes, C., Picard, V., Nhuyen-Khoa, T., Pereira, C., Lapouméroulie, C., Pissard, S., Gardner, K., Menzel, S., Le Van Kin, C., Colin-Aronovicz Y., Buffet, P., Mohandas, N., Elie, C., Maier-Redelsperger, M., El Nemer, W., & Picard, V. (2018). Prognostic factors of disease severity in infants with sickle cell anemia: A comprehensive longitudinal cohort study. American Journal of Hematology, 93(11), 1411-1419.
CDC. (2019). What is sickle cell disease? Web.
Sickle cell anemia. (2020). Web.