Well over 10 thousand people from 9 tribal districts of Rajasthan have been found suffering from serious Sickle Cell Disease. This has been revealed in a recent report of the Medical and Health Department of the state. The patients suffering from the disease have been advised to not marry each other.
According to the report, 2980 people have been reported positive of Sickle Cell disease, while initial symptoms have been found in 7,766 people. The disease is gripping the tribal dominated districts of the state namely Baran, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Pali, Sirohi, Dungarpur, Banswara, Pratapgarh and Udaipur.
The serious aspect of the report is that most women are coming under the grip of this disease as out of a total of 2980 positive patients, 1590 women.
These patients have been given pink and blue cards as Genetic Counseling ID Card (GCID) and advised not to get married to each other as the disease is likely to affect their children as well.
The Chief Medical and Health Officer of Dr. H L Tabiyar said that the reasons for its spread in tribal areas are not known. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences Jodhpur is working on this, but as the disease is spreading the department has advised the patients suffering from this to not get married to each other as it gets transferred to the next generation.
What is Sickle cell disease — also called sickle cell anemia — is a group of inherited disorders that affect hemoglobin, the major protein that carries oxygen in red blood cells. Normally, red blood cells are disc-shaped and flexible so they can move easily through the blood vessels. In sickle cell disease, red blood cells are misshaped, typically crescent- or “sickle”-shaped due to a gene mutation that affects the hemoglobin molecule.
When red blood cells sickle, they do not bend or move easily and can block blood flow to the rest of the body. It can cause serious health complications, such as chronic pain, stroke, lung problems, eye problems, infections, and kidney disease.
