Sickle cell anemia?
Question:
Answers:
I'm sure you know what sickle cell anemia is, but I'll just clarify. It's when the red blood cells of the body become sickled shape when they deoxygenate with blood. If you remember, oxygen is what is carried on the red blood cells. After the oxygen is removed, the cells bend and distort causing problems. As a nurse, I'm a little bit worried about how much exercise your husband is doing. Don't get me wrong, patient with sickle cell need to exercise, but to over do it and become exhausted means he's doing too much. He is getting tired and out of breath because he's becoming hypoxic (lack of oxygen in the tissues). If you think about what happens during exercise, then this makes sense: the more he exercises, the more oxygen his body requires by the muscles, the more O2 that's required, the more the RBC's have to carry O2. When you have half of your cells that sickle after being deoxygenated, it's easy to see why someone would be become fatigued. Also, what REALLY concerns me is the stress on the body. Stress like this can start a sickle cell crisis. This is a very serious medical condition. A crisis involves occulsion of the blood vessels in the body by the sickled cells. The cells can't fit through and the limb or organ becomes ischemic (lack of oxygen). This is very dangerous and very painful. Please have your husband speak to the doctor who is handling his sickle cell management and discuss if this is safe for him. He can still exercise, but not to the run-down, burn-me-out point that he is doing now.
they need to remain well hydrated
More Questions & Answers...