About Sickle Cell Disease

What is sickle cell disease?

Sickle cell disease is a blood disease. Instead of red blood cells containing normal hemoglobin, they contain sickle hemoglobin. (Hemoglobin carries oxygen through the body.) Sickle hemoglobin makes red blood cells stiff and sticky. This leads to anemia and blockage of blood vessels.  More African Americans suffer from this disease than any other race.

How do you get sickle cell disease?

You cannot "catch" sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease is inherited. In other words, you are born with it. You cannot outgrow sickle cell disease.   Problems caused by sickle cell disease may come and go, but the disease itself does not go away.

What kinds of problems does sickle cell cause?

Most people with sickle cell disease have pain at times. This pain is unpredictable and may require medications in the hospital.  People with sickle cell disease can have problems with every part of their bodies --- strokes, lung problems, severe anemia, and kidney problems.

How do you treat sickle cell disease?

People with sickle cell disease generally receive treatment in two ways:   They get medicines or blood transfusions when they are having problems;  they also receive medicines or blood transfusions to keep these problems from happening again.

Is there a cure for sickle cell disease?

Bone marrow transplant is the only cure, but there are still too many problems caused by bone marrow transplants for every child to have one. Also, for those children needing transplants, not everyone has a donor from their family who is a match. In the next few years, it may be possible to perform non-related bone marrow transplants for some of these patients.   Because the best match for an African American patient will be an African American donor, more bone marrow donors of African descent are needed to join the national registry.