Did you know… it may be okay for the moon to crescent, but the red blood cell? Na-ah!

 A normal red blood cell usually lives for about 120 days before dying. When a red blood cell forms a crescent shape, it is called a sickle cell. Sickle cells only take about 10-20 days to die. Having a lot of sickle cells in the blood is called sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease is caused when 2 parents with the sickle cell gene pass it down to a child. For example, if a mother and father both have one normal red blood cell gene and one sickle cell gene, every time they have a child, there is a 25% chance that both parents will pass the sickle cell gene to the child. Sickle cell disease has many problematic side effects like, a shortened lifespan of the sickled red blood cell. Since red blood cells carry oxygen, the more red cells die early, the less there are to carry oxygen through the body. Sickle cells can also block blood flow through small blood vessels. This is because while normal blood cells are elastic, and can squeeze through gaps, sickle cells are rigid, and plug the blood vessels. This causes a lot of pain. The pain can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days, as long as the vessel is blocked. Furthermore, the area of the body not getting blood flow due to the block ends up swelling due to lack of blood.

Luckily, sickle cell disease is a genetic trait that can be prevented and now be cured so don’t lose sleep thinking about your blood cells.