There are moments wherein you notice that your urine comes in a reddish color. This is because there is blood, or more specifically, red blood cells, in your urine. While most people would dismiss it, this is actually a symptom for a very serious illness, which is sickle cell anemia.
Sickle cell disease is caused by a genetic change in the red blood cell’s hemoglobin, which is the component of the red blood cell that carries oxygen. Normal red blood cells are oval and flexible, but people stricken with sickle cell disease would find their red blood cells to be shaped like a rod, resembling the blade of a sickle. Hence, the term sickle cell.
Sickle cells tend to have a shorter lifespan than that of the normal red blood cell, resulting in anemia or the lack of red blood cells in a person’s blood. With fewer red blood cells in the system, there would be generally a lesser amount of oxygen flowing through the entire system of the body. This, of course, would cause more complications as oxygen is a requirement for living and well-being. Without the proper delivery of oxygen to the body’s tissues, the potential danger of pain and damage to the tissue and the organs is imminent.
Sickle cells are also a problem because these cells are less flexible and stickier than normal red blood cells. Because of this they are easily trapped in the blood stream, causing major problems with the flow of blood throughout the human body.
Having bloody urine and frequent urination are just a few of the common symptoms of sickle cell disease. Other symptoms include bone, abdominal and chest pains, delayed growth and puberty, excessive thirst, fatigue, breathlessness, rapid heart rate, increased vulnerability to infections and fever, paleness, yellowish eyes and skin, poor eyesight or sometimes even blindness, and ulcers in the lower legs among adults and adolescents.
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