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I'm skydiving on the 13th NOV 2010 for charity!! I'd like to reach my target by then! PLEASE HELP!! I promise I will jump!

C.A.U.S.E
Charity For the Awareness & Understanding Of SickleCellEducation
Hey guys
A group of us are doing a sky dive for the Sickle Cell Ward at St Georges Hospital. Hold on!!, let me break it down to you, we will be jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet!!!...
I am gonna forget about the begging part of charity work and interest you in some facts about the disorder that some of you may not know or may have simply forgotten...
Happy reading everyone and you know what button to hit at the end...
Research has shown More than 12,500 people in the UK have sickle cell anaemia
Basic research has shown that a majority of society are not aware of the serious nature of Sickle Cell, but more concerning, is many of the majority did not even know it existed.
Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder that mostly affects people of Black African/ Caribbean ancestry, but also occurs in other ethnic groups, including people who are of Asian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern descent.
There is currently no cure for Sickle cell anemia, However, there are treatments for the symptoms and complications of the disease. Bone marrow transplants and Blood Transfusions may offer a cure in a small number of cases.
Myself and Andre (CAUSE founders) are working with St Georges Hospital to share knowledge of Sickle cell with society, so they do not misread symptoms:
Signs and symptoms of sickle cell disease usually begin in early childhood. Characteristics of this disorder include a low number of red blood cells (anemia), repeated infections, and recurring episodes of pain. The severity of symptoms varies from person to person. Some people have mild symptoms, while others are frequently hospitalized for more serious complications.
The signs and symptoms of sickle cell disease are caused by the sickling of red blood cells. When red blood cells sickle, they break down prematurely, which can lead to Anemia. Anemia can cause shortness of breath, fatigue, and delayed growth and development in children. The rapid breakdown of red blood cells may also cause yellowing of the eyes and skin, which are signs of jaundice.
Painful episodes can occur when sickled red blood cells, which are stiff and inflexible, get stuck in small blood vessels. These episodes deprive tissues and organs of oxygen-rich blood and can lead to organ damage, especially in the lungs, kidneys, spleen, and brain. A particularly serious complication of sickle cell disease is high blood pressure in the blood vessels that supply the lungs (pulmonary hypertension).
Pulmonary hypertension occurs in about one-third of adults with sickle cell disease and can lead to heart failure.
The Facts
Sickle cell disease is a group of disorders that affects the haemoglobin, the molecule in red blood cells that delivers oxygen to cells throughout the body. People with this disorder have a typical haemoglobin molecules called haemoglobin S, which can change the shape of normal red blood cells into a sickle, or crescent, shape.
Picture red blood cells floating in blood in the arteries of someone who does not have sickle cell anemia. Their blood pulses with each beat of the heart. As the pulse of blood moves through the arteries, they expand to allow the blood to pass. This happens because the red blood cells produce and release a signaling molecule to tell the arterial walls to expand. The signaling molecule they make is Nitric Oxide.
Now picture the red blood cells of someone with sickle cell anemia. Many of them are distorted into a sickle shape, so big that some get stuck going down small capillaries. But even worse, when the blood pulses, researchers discovered that the walls of the arteries don’t expand. Because they don’t expand circulation is restricted and oxygen starvation occurs in tissues downstream, causing the pain and other symptoms of sickle cell anemia.
This is important because this inadequate amount of nitric oxide is directly correlated with the severity of pain.
In other words, the less nitric oxide your blood cells can produce, the greater the pain. And to make matters worse, with severe sickle cell, when oxygen levels start to drop, blood vessels naturally constrict or get smaller. This just complicates the problem even more.
Researchers concluded that this abnormal nitric oxide processing might be the real cause of restrictions in the circulatory system of sickle cell patients. And when it comes to the severity of sickle cell symptoms, the sickle shape of the red blood cells may be less important than oxygen depletion.
C.A.U.S.E are working with St Georges Hospital to develop a wider understanding of the disorder so we can spread greater awareness. Creating awareness may increase the availabilty of effective and efficient protocols, knowledge and support.
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