Sickle Cell Anemia
Imagine that you’re a new medical assistant who is visiting with a patient, Freya House. She is a 16-year-old female complaining of unexplained weight loss, inability to sleep, shortness of breath, and nervousness. She was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia as a child and has been receiving treatment of hydroxyurea for the past 10 years. As an up-and-coming medical assistant, it is important for you to understand how this disease can impact her body and what treatments she will likely need.For this discussion, select at least one symptom that she is experiencing and describe whether her sickle cell anemia could be a cause of this symptom. How could this impact her organs, ability to fight infections, blood vessels, or blood cells?