Just the facts / In Summer Heat Stay Hydrated - Please

[RadiantSue]

FACT about sickle cell trait "The defect in urine concentrating ability in persons with sickle cell trait is thought to result from intracellular polymerization of Hb S in erythrocytes, leading to microvascular occlusion, in the vasa recta of the renal medulla. Reasoning that the severity of the concentration defect might be related to the percentage of sickle hemoglobin present in erythrocytes, Gupta et al. (1991) studied urine concentrating ability in 3 classes of A/S individuals, those with a normal alpha-globin genotype and those who were either heterozygous or homozygous for the gene-deletion type of alpha-thalassemia. They found a correlation between urine concentrating ability and the percentage of sickle hemoglobin, which was highest in the individuals with normal alpha-globin genotype and lowest in those homozygous for the deletion." SOURCE: Johns Hopkins web-site: dnai.org/media/bioinformati...

[awellkeptwoman]

Don't say people with trait have any issues they want them to think their medical issues are pseudo medical issues. So I just know the medical board didn't write about phantom medical issues of people with trait that they in the medical community try so hard to act as if it is no real underlying issue to curing the DISEASE.

[bluebug in reply to awellkeptwoman]

The paper doesn't say that.

It says people with any form of sickle cell have problems with concentrating urine. This means you get dehydrated more easily than those without it.

[Leora15Duarte]

I am 41yrs old sickle cell trait carrier.. I've been having some trouble with the heat but nothing new my question is how do I go about finding out what type I am? Hb s, SS

[bluebug in reply to Leora15Duarte]

If you have trait you are HB S. One sickle cell gene.

To find out what form of trait you have then you need more testing. How you get it depends on a mixture of luck and money as you need a haemotology hospital department whose doctors treat sickle cell and research sickle cell plus are interested in taking samples from people.

[RadiantSue in reply to Leora15Duarte]

Dear Leora15Duarte:

I agree with bluebug. Below is the contact information from an email exchange I had with a sickle cell disease center at Boston University. There are dozens of hemoglobin variants which when combined with sickle cell hemoglobin may produce symptoms, so you am glad you are going to try to find out. I was found to have normal hemoglobin and sickle hemoglobin (AS). Let us know what you find out. Take care.

**** EMAIL QUOTE START ****

Please have your hematologist contact us and arrange sending blood sample to us for testing, if necessary.

Regards, David Chui, MD.

********************************************

David H.K. Chui, MD

Professor of Medicine, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

Director, Hemoglobin Diagnostic Reference Laboratory

Evans 248, Boston University School of Medicine

88 East Newton Street

Boston, MA 02118

**** EMAIL QUOTE END ****

[phone]

[phone] (FAX)

[e-mail]

bu.edu/sicklecell/diagnostics/

bu.edu/sicklecell/files/200...