Spherocytosis Hereditary

Question: does the sickle cell anaemia produce stones in the gallbladder like the hereditary spherocytosis???

Answer: yes it can. I am a veteran ultrasound tech and have even seen gallstones in a 6 year old black male.

Question: what is the incubated fragility test? One can test oneself or another person for hereditary spherocytosis using the incubated fragility test.... or so a website says. I already know what the definition of the osmotic fragility test is (testing the erythrocyte's ability to hold water), but what is the incubated fragility test?

Answer: Incubate means hatch (any substance) by sitting on them, or exam the substance by artificial warmth. Fragile means broken/destroyed/injured. Osmotic Fragility of Red Blood Cells (Un-incubated And Incubated) The normal red blood cell is a relatively impermeable biconcave disc which maintains osmotic equilibrium with the surrounding medium. As the surrounding medium becomes hypotonic, fluid will be taken into the cell to maintain stability. Eventually under very hypotonic conditions the cell will fill to capacity and rupture. Spherocytic red blood cells have a decreased capacity to expand, and will rupture in mildly hypotonic conditions that fail to lyse normal red cells. They thus exhibit increased osmotic fragility. Osmotic fragility is determined by measuring the degree of hemolysis in hypotonic saline solution. With the unincubated test, red cell osmotic fragility is considered to be increased if hemolysis occurs in a sodium chloride concentration > 0.5%. Although increased osmotic fragility is characteristically associated with hereditary spherocytosis, it may also be increased in other types of hemolytic anemia associated with the presence of spherocytes, particularly auto-immune hemolytic anemia, and in hypernatermia (Na > 155 meq/L). Often the increased osmotic fragility in spherocytosis is limited to a small fraction of cells that are unusually susceptible to lysis. After incubation, the defect is magnified, and a striking increase in fragility will be seen in hereditary spherocytosis. Osmotic fragility is considered to be decreased if hemolysis is not complete in a 0.30% NaCl solution. Decreased osmotic fragility is associated with chronic liver disease, iron deficiency anemia, thalassemia, hyponatremia (Na < 130 meq/L), polycythemia vera, and sickle cell anemia after splenectomy.

Question: Is a splenectomy dangerous? My daughter has a blood disorder (hereditary spherocytosis) that requires her to have her spleen removed when she is five-years-old. I worry about the life-long complications as a result of this.

Answer: No. Splenectomy is generally reserved for those with warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia. In this, the most common of the hemolytic anemias, antibodies are made against red blood cells, making them appear abnormal to the spleen. The spleen then clears them from the blood and destroys them. Removal of the spleen in this situation often returns the blood count to near-normal. About 60 percent of individuals with warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia will have a long-term elimination of the disease. Cold autoimmune hemolytic anemia, paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria and drug-induced hemolytic anemia do not usually respond to surgery. Therefore, splenectomy is rarely advocated in the treatment of those diseases. Splenectomy is rarely required for people with sickle cell disease because the spleen shrinks during the course of the disease. The abnormal shape of sickled red blood cells causes them to get stuck in small blood vessels. This stops the delivery of oxygen to and removal of wastes from tissues, including the spleen. The spleen is especially at risk and usually scars to the point that it no longer functions.

Question: Medical ID Bracelet or not? I have Hereditary Spherocytosis, as A result I had to my gallbladder removed and recently had to have a Splenectomy. How should I word it on a Medical ID Charm? Wheres the best place to get one? AND WILL MY INSURANCE PAY FOR IT( i have Caresource)???? Please Help.. i'm a nervous reck.. I'm scared of dying due to me not having a spleen.. from infection. Maybe getting this done will give me some sense of security. Please help

Answer: Just look up Medical ID and you will find tons of options. I like Laurens hope . http://www.laurenshope.com/ They have pretty choices that are not expensive and have no membership costs. A good idea would be to write you name, maybe the town you live in. Then add Hereditary spherocytosis and the next line should say No spleen. Calm down. It is really easy. Just make it as simple as possible while getting all the info you need.

Question: Anemia Diet? I was born with Hereditary Spherocytosis and a few years ago I got my spleen removed. Usually anemia still stays with you even after the removal, so my question is what are some good anemia diets? I don't eat red meat so please don't mention to eat that, but i'm up for anything else. Thank you :]

Answer: Foods with iron. Start reading food labels on boxes. There are iron fortified cereals and iron fortified breads, chicken, soybeans, oatmeal, spinach, tofu, etc. Vitamin C aids in the absorption of iron, so drink your orange juice.