What Is Sickle Cell Anaemia?

This year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the published medical paper that first described the condition Sickle Cell Anaemia and the appearance of "peculiar elongated cells" in the blood sample of a patient when viewed under a microscope. Sickle cell anaemia, or sickle cell disease, is a disorder of the haemoglobin in the red blood cells, and at critical times, the cells that are normally disc shaped turn into a sickle shape with the added consequence of blocking the delicate blood capillary network.A sudden and profound anaemia can result and oxygen levels fall dangerously low in the body, and the sufferer can experience intense pain and a number of complications. Haemoglobin disorders that including both sickle cell disease and thalassemia, or Cooley's disease in the US are a significant global public health problem, partly because they are common and widespread. Sickle Cell Anaemia Education Project With the need for better education in mind, academic staff in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK have initiated a new project called SCOOTER "Sickle Cell Open - Online Topics and Educational Resources". SCOOTER is funded by the UK Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and it is part of a wider "open education" initiative run by the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).SCOOTER is working with UK academics, health professionals, pharmaceutical industry and societies to release educational materials on the subject of Sickle Cell Anaemia and Thalassemia. The educational materials will be in a range of forms, from photographs and diagrams to more comprehensive learning objects - bite sized chunks of learning to even a complete text book. Other discussions are already taking place through Twitter, Facebook, Posterous and other Web 2.0 tools, and anyone interested can go to the project website and "follow" the SCOOTER project.Marking the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Sickle Cell Anaemia, the SCOOTER project will become established and invite people to participate through providing materials, reviewing resources and simply using and reusing them. SCOOTER will become a vibrant global community to address the educational needs and raise awareness of Sickle Cell Anaemia and Thalassemia around the world.

Source by ezinearticles.com