What Is Sickle Cell Disease?

Sickle cell anemia affects the red blood cells, which delivers oxygen to all parts of the body. Normal blood cells are smooth and round, making it easy for the cells to travel through the blood vessels. In sickle cell anemia, the red blood cells are shaped like crescents and become hard and sticky. This makes it difficult for the cells to travel throughout parts of the body, causing severe pain.

1 in 600 African-Americans have Sickle Cell Anemia
1 in 1,000-1,400 Hispanic-Americans have Sickle Cell Anemia
1 in 12 African-Americans have Sickle Cell Trait

What is the Sickle Cell Trait?

Sickle Cell Trait is the inheritance of just one sickle gene. People with sickle cell trait are generally completely normal physically and exhibit no symptoms. Over 3.5 million African Americans are carriers of the sickle cell trait.

Who Does Sickle Cell Affect?

Sickle Cell Disease mainly affects those whose families come from:

Parts of Africa (the region south of the Sahara Desert)
Spanish-speaking areas like South America, Cuba, and Central America
Saudi Arabia
India
Mediterranean countries, such as Turkey, Greece, and Italy.

What Are Sickle Cell's Symptoms?

Symptoms of Sickle Cell Anemia include the following:

Pain (acute and chronic)
Jaundice
Tiredness
Delayed growth and puberty in children
Vision problems
Priapisms
Acute Chest Pain
Stroke
Gallstones
Infections
Hand-foot Syndrome

Other Sickle Cell Facts

People with sickle cell anemia inherit the gene from each parent.
Sickle Cell crises (pain associated sickle cell anemia) are the leading cause of emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
Pneumonia is the leading cause of death in sickle cell patient. In fact, infection is a major complication in sickle cell anemia patients.
Those who are most affected with sickle cell anemia are of African descent.

Types of Sickle Cell Anemia include:

Sickle Cell SS
Sickle Cell SC
Sickle Cell SE
Thalassemias and Sickle Cell S
Alpha Thalassemias
Beta Thalassemias