WHAT IS SICKLE CELL ANEMIA?

 

Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects red blood cells. People with sickle cell disease have red blood cells that contain mostly hemoglobin* S, an abnormal type of hemoglobin. Sometimes these red blood cells become sickle-shaped (crescent shaped) and have difficulty passing through small blood vessels. Normal red blood cells are disc-shaped and look like doughnuts without holes in the center. They move easily through your blood vessels. Sickle cells contain abnormal hemoglobin that causes the cells to have a sickle shape. Sickle-shaped cells don’t move easily through your blood vessels. They’re stiff and sticky and tend to form clumps and get stuck in the blood vessels. The clumps of sickle cells block blood flow in the blood vessels that lead to the limbs and organs. Blocked blood vessels can cause pain, serious infections, and organ damage.

 

WHO IS AFFECTED?

 

In the United States people are often surprised when they learn that a person who is not African American has sickle cell disease. The disease originated in at least 4 places in Africa and in the Indian/Saudi Arabian subcontinent. The transatlantic slave trade was largely responsible for introducing the sickle cell gene into the Americas and the Caribbean. In the United States with an estimated population of over 270 million, about 1,000 babies are born with sickle cell disease each year.

Excerpted from A Comprehensive Guide to SCD & SCDAA Services

 

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

 

By giving and supporting our event. Your contribution has the power to affect change. Together, we can touch the lives of people that we may never meet, but can offer to them hope, energy and determination to lead their lives as we champion the way in finding a cure.