Famous People With Blood Diseases

The production of components of blood proteins, hemoglobin and blood cells are generally affected by blood diseases. There are different kinds of blood diseases which include leukemia, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia and anemia. There are many famous people who suffer from such similar forms of blood diseases.

A famous American singer, Paul Williams who was born on July 2nd 1939 was known as one of the founding members as well as the original lead singer of the Motown Group called ‘The Temptation'. Paul Williams suffered from sickle cell anemia which would frequently wreck havoc on his physical health.

Another famous personality who belonged to the Olympics history was Tim Shaw. He was an Olympic swimmer and was able to win a silver medal in the 1976 games even though he was diagnosed with a severe iron deficiency anemia during the time of the Olympic trials. Anemia is generally caused due to the deficiency of iron in the body. Iron holds an important part in the red blood cell even though it is stored in a small amount in the human body. The red blood cells are not being produced by the human body as the stores of iron start to decreases thus leading to the occurrence of an iron deficiency anemia

Another famous child was the only son of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Alexandria Feodorovna. He was Tsarevich Alexei N Romanaov and also the youngest child to have inherited hemophilia from his mother. This is a blood disorder where the blood becomes abnormally thin and refuses to clot easily.

Even a tiny cut on the finger could lead to a major blood loss and so people with these diseases have to be more careful and cannot be a part of too much of outdoor activity. This was actually traced back to his maternal Grandmother, Queen Victoria.

Another American singer born in 1936 was Mary Travers and was also a survivor of leukemia. She was the member of the famous folk music trio called Peter, Paul and Mary. In 2004 Mary was diagnosed with leukemia and had to undergo almost 5 weeks of chemotherapy after which she finally recovered and it was known to be a fatal diseases.

Quite a good number of renowned personalities and celebrities have also fallen victim of leukemia. Popular actor Bruno Kirby of City Slickers was detected with leukemia which later led to his death at 57. Leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow or blood which is usually accompanied by impaired blood clotting, anemia, and abnormal expansion of the liver, spleen and lymph nodes.

Grammy award champion Rapper Nelly's sister Jacqueline Donahue died of leukemia after a long fight with the disease. Jackie who made severe hard work to raise awareness about leukemia suffered a relapse that provoked the necessity for bone marrow drives. It was however ill-fated that no match was found despite serious efforts to save her life.

Bill Walsh who was a famous 49ers coach of the 1980s also died of leukemia at 75. He was considered a genius for his pass- oriented attacks. Walsh was crowned Coach of the year two times throughout his career as coach amongst other achievements.

• Felicia Byrnes
• 27/03/2009, 8:59 AM
• 0 Comments