More help on sickle cell?

Question

If someone inherited the sickle cell gene from both parents and they have it then will their child have a 50 50 percent chance of having it or will they just definitely have the disease? Also, Is there a chromosome error in the # or structure when someone have SC?

Answer 1

your child will have a 50% chance if both parents got the disease, if they just had the gene and never got the disease it goes down to about 25%

Answer 2

If someone who has sickle cell disease marries someone who is a carrier of the trait, then their child will have a 50/50 chance of having sickle cell disease.  

If the sickle cell patient marries someone who is not a carrier of the trait, then there is a 100% chance that each of the their children will be carriers of the trait and a zero percent chance that any of their children will have the disease.

The disease is cause by a genetic mutation of the hemoglobin molecule, in which the sixth amino acid from the end of the protein chain has been substituted with a different amino acid.  This causes the hemoglobin molecule to change shape, especially in a reduced oxygen environment.  When the hemoglobin molecule changes shape, it causes the red cells to distort into a sickle shape.  These cells can get stuck in small capillaries and clog up them up so that no red cells can get through to feed the cells of that particular part of the body.  This causes an infarction and tissue can die.  This is known as a sickle cell crisis and is very painful, even fatal.

It is such a terrible disease that anyone who has the trait or the disease should receive genetic counseling so as to avoid having children with the disease.