What is Sickle Cell Disease?

• Sickle cell disease, also known as sickle cell anemia, is an inherited blood disorder due to defective hemoglobin. Without healthy hemoglobin, red blood cells do not grow correctly. They will grow in crescent shapes that get stuck together and are easily damaged. Without healthy red blood cells, oxygen does not flow to the brain and the rest of the body. Symptoms of sickle cell anemia include dizziness, feeling faint, headaches and lightheadedness. If you have any of these symptoms or anyone in your family has sickle cell anemia, call your doctor to get tested. Your doctor can test to determine whether or not your body produces hemoglobin S, which is the cause of sickle cell disease.
  
  

How is Sickle Cell Disease Inherited?

• Sickle cell disease is a gene mutation that is inherited from the patient's parents. The gene is considered a autosomal recessive inheritance, which means that the gene is passed from mother to child or father to child, but there is not a 100 percent guarantee that it will be passed. Sickle cell disease can also be passed by people who have sickle cell trait passed through their lineage, but do not produce abnormal hemoglobin and do not experience any symptoms of these disease. Those who have sickle cell trait are still carriers of the disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, if two people both have sickle cell trait and have a child, the child has a 50 percent chance of being a carrier, a 25 percent chance of having a child with normal hemoglobin and no traits of sickle cell disease, and a 25 percent chance of having sickle cell disease.
  
  

How is Sickle Cell Disease Managed?

• Sickle cell disease is managed with the assistance of a doctor. Although there is no cure for sickle cell disease, your doctor can give you medications to manage your symptoms, like pain medications. In severe cases of sickle cell disease, frequent blood transfusions are necessary. In order to prevent the need for these transfusions, hydroxyurea is prescribed to stimulate fetal hemoglobin production. Fetal hemoglobin helps prevent the formation of sickle cells, so taking this medication may help if your sickle cell disease is severe.