Stem Cell Treatment of   :     Sickle Cell

Sickle-cell disease, or sickle-cell anaemia (or drepanocytosis), is a life-long blood disorder characterized by red blood cells that assume an abnormal, rigid, sickle shape. Sickling decreases the cells' flexibility and results in a risk of various complications. The sickling occurs because of a mutation in the hemoglobin gene. Life expectancy is shortened, with studies reporting an average life expectancy of 42 and 48 years for males and females, respectively.

Sickle-cell disease, usually presenting in childhood, occurs more commonly in people (or their descendants) from parts of tropical and sub-tropical regions where malaria is or was common. One-third of all aboriginal inhabitants of Sub-Saharan Africa carry the gene,because in areas where malaria is common, there is a survival value in carrying only a single sickle-cell gene (sickle cell trait). Those with only one of the two alleles of the sickle-cell disease are more resistant to malaria, since the infestation of the malaria plasmodium is halted by the sickling of the cells which it infests.

The prevalence of the disease in the United States is approximately 1 in 5,000, mostly affecting African Americans, according to the National Institute of Health.

Treatment: - Fetal Stem Cells Therapy