Sickle Cell Anemia

Minority Women's Health > African Americans > Health Topics > Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle cell anemia is a blood disorder that is passed down from parents to children. It involves problems with the red blood cells. Normal red blood cells are round and smooth and move through blood vessels easily. Sickle cells are hard and have a curved edge. These cells can't get through small blood vessels, which keeps the organs from getting blood. Your body destroys sickle red cells quickly, but sometimes it can't make new red blood cells fast enough. This is a condition called anemia. Sickle cell anemia can cause serious health problems, including:

• pain and swelling in the hands and feet
• fatigue (feeling very tired)
• shortness of breath (feeling like you can't get enough air)
• pain in organs or joints
• eye damage
• yellow color in skin and eyes
• slow growth
• infections
• stroke
• chest pain
• fever

People with sickle cell anemia need continuous treatment, even when they are not having a painful crisis. A crisis is a time when someone with sickle cell anemia experiences pain caused by their condition. Crises can last anywhere from hours to days. Some people with sickle cell anemia have only one crisis every few years, while others have many crises in a year. Treatment is aimed at managing and controlling the disease to help reduce the number of crises. Folic acid must be taken regularly to help the body cope with the rapid red cell turnover.

Each year, about 1 in 500 African Americans is born with sickle cell disease. This means that they got the sickle gene from both parents. People who have only one gene carry the sickle cell, but they do not get sickle cell anemia. They can pass the gene to their children. It is estimated that 1 in 12 African Americans have one sickle cell gene.

If you're planning to have a baby, you and your partner can get a blood test to see if you carry the sickle cell gene. If you both have the gene, there is a one in four chance that your child will have sickle cell disease. If you find out that you both carry the gene, there may be things you can do to keep your baby from getting the disease.

Publications

1.   What Is Sickle Cell Anemia? - This on-line publication describes what sickle cell anemia is. It discusses the causes, risks, signs and symptoms of this disease. Information on treatments and prevention is also included.

   http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Sca/SCA_WhatIs.html

2. Pain Assessment and Pain Management in Sickle Cell Disease: A Guidebook for Patients and Their Families (Copyright © SCIC) - This booklet is a review of pain prevention, home treatment, emergency treatment, and in-patient treatment in the hospital. The more one knows about the causes, prevention, and treatment of pain, the better the chances of an early recovery. There are different types and different causes of pain requiring a clinician’s help and advice about treatment.

   http://www.scinfo.org/painmgpt.htm

3. Sickle Cell Disease (Copyright © ASA) - Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common inherited disease among African Americans. This publication provides information about the relationship between SCD and strokes, as well as treatment and prevention methods.

   http://www.strokeassociation.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3034962

4. What is Sickle Cell Disease? (Copyright © SCDAA) - This publication provides information on the sickle cell disease, the different types of the disease, problems caused by the disease, treatments, and developments in treatment.

   http://www.sicklecelldisease.org/about_scd/index.phtml

Organizations

1.   National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Information Center, NHLBI, NIH, HHS
2. American Sickle Cell Anemia Association
3. Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc.

= Indicates Federal Resources

Current as of December 2007