What is the difference between hemoglobin a and s

Symptoms of sickle cell disease may include:. Your healthcare provider may also order other blood tests to check for anemia. He or she may also order a test called hemoglobin electrophoresis to help find out the amounts of different hemoglobin types in your blood.

This test helps figure out if you have sickle cell trait or sickle cell disease. The test is also part of routine newborn screening. Test results may vary depending on your age, gender, health history, the method used for the test, and other things. Your test results may not mean you have a problem. Ask your healthcare provider what your test results mean for you.

Normal results are negative, meaning no Hgb S was seen and your red blood cells are a normal shape. Positive results mean Hgb S is present and sickle cells were seen. Your healthcare provider will confirm these results with hemoglobin electrophoresis. A positive result may also mean that you have another blood disease and may need more tests.

The test is done with a blood sample. A needle is used to draw blood from a vein in your arm or hand. In small children or infants, blood can be taken by a skin prick from the heel of the foot.

Having a blood test with a needle carries some risks. This type of hemoglobin is present in some sickle cell disorders. This can be used to diagnose certain types of anemia such as thalassemia. Check treatment for diseases that have abnormal types of hemoglobin in the blood.

Help couples find out how likely they are to have a child with certain forms of anemia that can be passed from a parent to a child inherited. How To Prepare Tell your doctor if you are getting iron therapy for iron deficiency anemia. How It Is Done The health professional drawing blood will: Wrap an elastic band around your upper arm to stop the flow of blood. This makes the veins below the band larger so it is easier to put a needle into the vein. Clean the needle site with alcohol. Put the needle into the vein.

More than one needle stick may be needed. Attach a tube to the needle to fill it with blood. Remove the band from your arm when enough blood is collected. Put a gauze pad or cotton ball over the needle site as the needle is removed. Put pressure on the site and then put on a bandage.

How It Feels The blood sample is taken from a vein in your arm. Risks There is very little chance of a problem from having a blood sample taken from a vein. You may get a small bruise at the site. You can lower the chance of bruising by keeping pressure on the site for several minutes.

In rare cases, the vein may become swollen after the blood sample is taken. This problem is called phlebitis. A warm compress can be used several times a day to treat this. Results A hemoglobin electrophoresis test is a blood test done to check the different types of hemoglobin in the blood.

Normal The normal values listed here—called a reference range—are just a guide. Hemoglobin electrophoresis footnote 2 Hemoglobin A1: A very low level of hemoglobin A and a high level of hemoglobin F may mean a more severe form of thalassemia. High levels of hemoglobin F may be seen in a rare condition called hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin.

Hemoglobin S in moderate amounts can mean that sickle cell trait is present. Hemoglobin S in high amounts means sickle cell disease. Hemoglobin C in low amounts can mean that hemoglobin C trait is present.

Hemoglobin C in high amounts means hemoglobin C disease, which causes anemia and an enlarged spleen. Hemoglobin types S and C mean hemoglobin S-C disease, which causes a mild or moderate form of sickle cell disease.

Hemoglobin E in low amounts means the presence of hemoglobin E trait. Hemoglobin E in high amounts means hemoglobin E disease, which causes anemia and smaller-than-normal red blood cells. As of , sickle cell anemia is the most prevalent sickling disorder in African Americans Table 3.

It is usually mild in individuals of African descent but it causes severe disease similar to sickle cell anemia for individuals of Italian, Turkish, and Greek descent. This hematological disorder is diagnosed by laboratory findings Table 4 and is characterized by the presence of splenomegaly as well as red blood cell RBC morphologic characteristics in peripheral blood.

Supportive care is used to manage the symptoms associated with sickle cell disease. Blood transfusions are given to correct low hemoglobin levels, as needed. Other more permanent solutions include allogeneic bone marrow transplantation and gene therapy.

The only currently available curative therapy is allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which allows patients to become transfusion independent. Philadephia : Saunders Elsevier.

Google Scholar. Google Preview. Advani P. Beta Thalassemia Differential Diagnoses. Medscape Web site. Accessed on: August 24, Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.

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