login
Become a member
Quick Registration
Full Registration Benefits -
Free Homepages for Doctors
Free Homepages for Hospitals
Free Homepages for Medical Conference
Free Homepages for NGO's
Personal Health Record Creation
Access to all Medical Slides
Access to all Jobs & Products Sale
Scientists Identify Gene Variants That may Help Predict Intensity of Sickle Cell Disease
While sickle cell disease is a single-gene disorder, its symptoms are highly variable and this latest feat may even lead to better treatment approaches in the future.
The scientists highlighted that the gene variants influence blood levels of fetal haemoglobin (HbF), which are known to affect symptom severity in sickle cell disease, which may cause some patients to experience frequent, severe pain crises and organ damage, while others are scarcely aware of their disease.
"Our study is a first step towards a better understanding of foetal haemoglobin regulation in patients with sickle cell disease. But further validation experiments are needed before these findings can become useful in the clinic," said Guillaume Lettre, PhD, of the Broad Institute and Children's Hospital Boston, and co-first author on the paper.
"Eventually, understanding the factors giving rise to heterogeneity in HbF levels might allow us to take severely affected patients and make them more like those with more benign symptoms," added Vijay Sankaran, co-first author on the paper with Lettre and an MD-PhD student in the laboratory of Stuart Orkin, MD.
In sickle cell disease, a single genetic mutation results in the production of an abnormal type of haemoglobin molecules that tend to form long chains, causing red blood cells to become stiff and sickle-shaped. The distorted cells have difficulty passing through blood vessels and can block the smaller vessels, resulting in severe pain and eventual organ damage as tissues are robbed of their blood supply. The sickle-shaped red blood cells also have a very short lifespan, causing patients to be chronically anaemic.
|
|
|
More News on: DNA Finger Printing, Hib Vaccine
 Comment & Contribute
|
Medwonders Health Network
- Health News Index
- News Quick Links
| News Categories: |
| » | Cardio-Pulmonary Function can be a Strong Indicator for Survival Chances of Breast Cancer Patients |
| » | Post Surgery Will the Tumour Return? New Breast Cancer Test to Predict Exactly |
| » | Scientists Develop Compound That Triggers Cancer Cell Death |
| » | Iraqi National Hopes to Find Affordable Treatment for His Cancer in India |
| » | New Technique can Help Doctors Detect Pancreatic Cancer |
| More Cancer News | |
|
