What is SCD?
Sickle cell disease is a genetically transmitted red blood cell disorder that primarily affects African Americans. People with sickle cell disease have an abnormal type of hemoglobin in their blood that makes their red blood cells sickle or crescent shaped. These sickle shaped blood cells have difficulty circulating through the smaller blood vessels of the body and as a result can impede normal blood flow causing painful blockages known as vasoocclusive events (VOE’s).
Sickle cell related pain can be acute, recurrent, or chronic in severity. Sickle Cell Disease affects many of the organs of the body including the brain, lungs, kidneys, liver, and spleen. Currently there are few treatments for sickle cell disease. Instead physicians rely on abating the symptoms of sickle cell disease primarily with pain medications such as opiates. Other chronic treatments include blood transfusions and prescription of hydroxyurea. Certainly there is a need for more research and new treatments for this disease.
