Acute chest syndrome: a serious condition that causes the person to breathe rapidly, cough, and have chest pain. It is a major cause of death in sickle cell patients.
Amino Acid: substance that combines in long chains to form proteins
Amniocentesis: a test of fetal cells using a needle to withdraw fluid surrounding the developing baby
Anemia: a condition caused by abnormally low amounts of red blood cells and/or hemoglobin in the blood. Symptoms include tiredness, paleness of skin and gums, and breathlessness.
Anesthetic: substance that lessens or removes feelings and sensations, including touch and pain
Antibiotic: a substance made by microorganisms, such as molds, that kill bacteria
Appendicitis: an infection of a small pouch that extends out of the large intestine near its connection to the small intestine, located near the right groin
Apheresis: process that separates cells in the blood and returns the good cells to the body
Bacteria: microbes that can cause infection
Blood count: a measure of the different cells and hemoglobin in the blood
Bone Marrow: the soft material inside the bones where blood cells are made
Capillaries: tiny blood vessels that run from the veins and arteries to all parts of the body
Carrier: person who can transmit a disease but does not have the disease
Chemotherapy: drug treatment used to kill cells
Circulatory System: system in which blood circulates throughout the body. The heart, arteries, and veins together are known as the circulatory system
Crisis: attack of sickle cell disease
Congestive heart failure: a condition caused by the heart’s decreased ability to pump blood to the different parts of the body, which results in accumulation of fluid in legs, chest, and abdominal cavity
Dactylitis: inflammation and swelling of the fingers
Dehydration: loss of water from the body
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA): complex strands that make up the genetic material of living things.
Discrimination: unfair treatment based, for example, on a person’s color, religion, ethnic group, gender, or medical health
Electrolytes: substances, including ions of sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, that are dissolved in fluid inside cells, outside cells, and within the blood. Electrolytes regulate the movement of fluid from these areas.
Embryo: the developing fertilized egg: in humans, the developing organism from one week to eight weeks
Endothelial cells: a kind of skin cell that forms the lining of the body cavities, the heart chambers, and the blood vessels.
Erythropoietin: a complex protein made by the body that stimulates the manufacture of red blood cells
Fertile: in men: able to impregnate a woman; in women: able to get pregnant
Fetus: an unborn developing human after it is eight weeks old
Folic acid: a chemical containing nitrogen found in leafy green vegetables and beans that is needed by the body to make red blood cells; vitamin M, also vitamin Bc
Fungus: an organism that can vary in size from microscopic (yeast) to large (mushroom)
Gene: part of chromosomes that carries instructions for how the body develops and carries out life processes
Gene therapy: experimental treatment that replaces faulty genes with healthy ones.
Genetics: scientific study of the ways in which different features are passed down from parent to children
Graft-versus-host disease: a disorder caused when transplanted cells attack the body.
Hand-foot syndrome: a painful condition of the hands and feet. Usually found in vey young children.
Heme: molecule that joins together with four globin molecules to make hemoglobin
Hemoglobin: a large molecule that coils in on itself to form the shape of a cube. Its role is to transport oxygen throughout the body.
Hemoglobin SC disease: a common form of sickle cell disease. It results from inheriting two different sickle cell genes, hemoglobin S and hemoglobin C.
Hormones: chemicals produced by glands that direct activities in different parts of the body, such as use of food and kidney function. Insulin, testosterone, and estrogen are examples of hormones.
Hydroxyurea: a medicine that increases the fetal hemoglobin in red blood cells; used to reduce the symptoms of sickle cell disease.
Immunity: body’s ability to avoid infection and fight off disease
Immunization: the injection of dead or weakened disease organisms to stimulate the body to make proteins that will fight these organisms and thus prevent infection
Inflammation: the body’s defense system against infection and injury; includes fever and increased production of blood and other fluids
Intravenous injection (IV): administered medication or other substances through a needle inserted in a person’s vein
In vitro: denoting biological procedures done in laboratory dishes, compared to in vivo procedures done in living creatures.
Ion: an atom or molecular fragment that has an electrical charge. Ions react readily with other chemicals
Jaundice: condition in which the whites of the eyes and the skin become yellow because the body cannot dispose of a yellow-brown substance, bilirubin, which accumulates in the blood
Lymph nodes: small glands, part of a system of vessels called the lymphatic system, that carry fluid that transports oxygen, nutrients, and substances from the blood to the tissues
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner: a device that uses magnetic rays to scan the brain
Malaria: a tropical disease caused by a tiny parasite that invades the blood
Minerals: substances found in the earth’s surface. Some minerals – such as iron, magnesium, sodium, and potassium – are essential to the functioning of our bodies
Miscarry: to expel a fetus from the uterus before the Fifth month of human pregnancy
Molecule: smallest unit of a chemical
Nucleotide: small units of molecules that join together to fomr DNA
Parasite: creature that lives in or on another creature
Penicillin: an antibiotic made by mold
pH: a measure of acidity and alkalinity. Measured in units from 1 to 14, with 1 most acid, 7 neutral, and 14 most alkaline.
Placenta: an organ that helps nourish a developing baby
Pneumonia: inflammation of the lungs caused by infection
Portacath: a device surgically implanted in a person through which injections can be made
Prejudice: negative feelings toward a group of people that are not based on factual information
Priapism: painful erection of the penis
Protein: large molecules made up of hundreds or thousands of amino acids linked in chains. It is needed for growth and to repair damaged parts of the body
Seizure: a response to an irritation of the brain that produces abnormal electrical discharges, causing such reactions as twitching, chewing movements, numbness, and hallucinations
Septicemia (blood poisoning): the invasion of the blood by bacteria
Sickle beta-thalassemia: a less common type of sickle cell disease. It derives from inheriting a hemoglobin S gene and a gene for b-thalassemia
Sickle cell anemia: the most common form of sickle cell disease. People with this disease inherit two hemoglobin S genes from their parents. Also known as hemoglobin SS disease
Sickle cell disease: a group of inherited blood disorders in which mishapen red blood cells interfere with the flow of blood through the body. It is the most common genetic blood disease in the world
Sickle cell trait: a condition in which a person inherits one sickle cell gene. The person will not have sickle cell disease but can pass on the sickle cell gene to his or her children
Sinusoid: a small channel or chamber for the passage of blood in organ tissue
Spleen: organ that removes worn-out blood cells from the circulatory system and that fights infection
Stem Cells: cells formed early in a baby’s development that can be used to grow various types of cells
Steroid: a type of fatty chemical that includes hormones and bile
Stroke: damage to part of the brain caused by a lack of adequate blood supply
Symptom: signs of a disease or disorder
Syndrome: a set of symptoms that occur together
Testosterone: male sex hormone that is produced by the testes
Thalassemia: inherited blood disease in which hemoglobin is not produced in the normal quantity
Tissue: mass of cells that form the different parts of humans, animals, and plants
Trait: condition that is inherited
Transfusion: transfer of blood into a person’s body to replace blood lost in an accident or to correct anemia
Ulcer: open sore on the skin
Ultrasound: a technique using sound waves to record an image of the blood circulating inside the blood vessels
Umbilical cord: the flexible cord that connects the developing baby to the mother
Virus: tiny microbe that causes infectious disease
