How Does Sickle Cell Disease Protect From Malaria?

Malaria is a parasitic disease of the blood. Sickle cell disease causes the creation of abnormally shaped red blood cells. Malaria parasites cannot enter sickle cells. Sickle cell disease became prominent as people with normal hemoglobin died from malaria.

Malaria

• Malaria is a disease caused by Plasmodium species parasites. The parasites are transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes. Once inside the body, the parasites invade red blood cells and reproduce in them.

Red Blood Cells

• Red blood cells do not normally have any organelles inside them, having only hemoglobin for oxygen transport. This allows malaria parasites to infect the cells without destroying them.

Hemoglobin

• Hemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells. It allows for the transport of oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.

Sickle Cell Disease

• Sickle cell disease occurs when a genetic mutation causes the creation of abnormal hemoglobin inside red blood cells. The abnormal hemoglobin makes red blood cells form in a sickle shape instead of the normal form of round discs.

Protection from Malaria

• Malarial parasites cannot infect sickle cells. This is because the parasite cannot "fit" inside the sickle cells, destroying them before the parasites can grow and reproduce.