Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle-cell disease, or sickle-cell anaemia (or drepanocytosis), is a life-long blood disorder characterized by red blood cells that assume an abnormal, rigid, sickle shape. Sickling decreases the cells' flexibility and results in a risk of various complications.

Understanding Sickle Cell Disease

World Sickle Cell Day is June 19 and was created by the United Nations in 2006 to raise global awareness for sickle cell disease as a public health problem. Sickle cell disease is an extremely debilitating medical condition.

What is Sickle-Cell Disease?

Sickle-Cell Disease Classification

Sickle Cell Disease Diagnosis

Sickle-Cell Disease Pathophysiology

Sickle-Cell Disease Genetics

Sickle-Cell Disease Treatment

Sickle-Cell Disease History

Sickle Cell Disease Carriers

Sickle-Cell Disease Symptoms

What is Sickle Cell Trait (SCT)?

Treatment Options for Sickle Cell Disease

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COVID-19 and Sickle Cell Disease

Current Challenges in Sickle Cell Disease

Latest Sickle Cell Disease News and Research

Lehigh’s undergraduate students receive NIH Award for new sickle cell diagnostic device

Their tickets were booked. Their schedules were set. The students were finally going to test their product on real people. But in July, Sierra Leone's COVID-19 level spiked almost overnight, and Lehigh's Sickle Cell Anemia Diagnostic Device team lost yet another opportunity to conduct fieldwork.

1 Nov 2021

Health care costs for people with rare diseases have been underestimated, study shows

A new, retrospective study of medical and insurance records indicates health care costs for people with a rare disease have been underestimated and are three to five times greater than the costs for people without a rare disease.

22 Oct 2021

Existing drug reduces obesity and fatty liver in mice without changes in food intake or daily activity

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have found that a drug first developed to treat Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and sickle cell disease reduces obesity and fatty liver in mice and improves their heart function — without changes in food intake or daily activity.

7 Oct 2021

Researchers seek to identify the role of hypoxia on red blood cell aging

Red blood cells are the most abundant cell type in blood, carrying oxygen throughout the human body. In blood circulation, they repetitively encounter various levels of oxygen tension.

22 Sep 2021

Nemours receives $10.5 million NIH grant to support research in sickle cell disease

Researchers at Nemours Children's Health, Delaware have received a $10.5 million National Institutes of Health grant to support the Delaware Comprehensive Sickle Cell Research Program.

21 Sep 2021

Hydroxyurea therapy can improve or reverse cardiac complications in sickle cell anemia patients

Heart abnormalities are common complications of sickle cell anemia (SCA) that can contribute to severe disease symptoms and even death.

16 Sep 2021

Chief medical officers to consider vaccination of 12 to 15 year olds from a broader perspective

The four Chief Medical Officers will provide further advice on the COVID-19 vaccination of young people aged 12 to 15 with COVID-19 vaccines following the advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

4 Sep 2021

Obstructive sleep apnea may affect heart health and increase blood pressure in children

Obstructive sleep apnea, a form of sleep-disordered breathing, is common in children and adolescents and may be associated with elevated blood pressure and changes in heart structure.

18 Aug 2021

Oral prodrug delivers carbon monoxide to protect against acute kidney injury

An oral prodrug developed by a team of scientists led by Binghe Wang, Regents' Professor of Chemistry at Georgia State University, delivers carbon monoxide to protect against acute kidney injury, according to a new paper published in Chemical Science.

19 Jul 2021

Most states did not use health equity committees to assist with COVID-19 vaccine distribution planning

During the large second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in fall 2020, pulmonologist and critical care provider Juan C. Rojas, MD, reflected on how disproportionately members of minority populations were being affected by the disease.

2 Jul 2021

Citizens’ jury set to reflect deeply on the pros and cons of human genome editing

Two dozen ‘ordinary Aussies’ tackle whether scientists should be able to change our genes to prevent disease or create superhumans

17 Jun 2021

Global blood centers join hands to develop more efficient, accurate blood typing technology

Blood centers from around the world have united to form an international collaboration with academic research institutions and a leading genomic array company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, to deliver a technology which promises to make the future of blood transfusion therapy more efficient, cost-effective, accurate, standardized, and safer.

17 Jun 2021

UCSF launches new initiative to propel the development of living therapeutics

UC San Francisco is launching a new initiative to propel the development of living therapeutics - a category of treatments broadly defined as human and microbial living cells that are selected, modified, or engineered to treat or cure disease - and bring them quickly to patients.

14 Jun 2021

Johns Hopkins researcher receives prestigious award for breakthrough research in circadian science

Sleep medicine physician and sleep researcher Dr. Charlene Gamaldo of Johns Hopkins Medicine is the recipient of the inaugural Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership Award from the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC, a joint initiative of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.

11 Jun 2021

Pitt researchers use a unique and powerful MRI device to study sickle cell disease

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a genetically inherited group of red blood cell disorders. According to the CDC, an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 people in the United States live with this disease, and it disproportionately affects Black or African Americans; it occurs in roughly 1 in every 500 individuals in this demographic.

3 Jun 2021

Researchers develop proof-of-concept treatment for blood disorders

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have developed a proof-of-concept treatment for blood disorders like sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia that could raise hemoglobin levels by activating production of both fetal and adult hemoglobin.

1 Jun 2021

New technique can help to non-invasively assess progression of sickle cell retinopathy

Ophthalmologists at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai have created a new technique to evaluate patients with sickle cell retinopathy and assess the disease before it progresses and leads to permanent vision loss.

10 May 2021

High-throughput system can regulate gene expression for treating sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have developed an integrated, high-throughput system to better understand and possibly manipulate gene expression for treatment of disorders such as sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. The research appears today in the journal Nature Genetics.

7 May 2021

California and Texas took different routes to vaccination. Who’s ahead?

California and Texas, the country's two most populous states, have taken radically different approaches to the pandemic and the vaccination campaign to end it.

22 Apr 2021

Toward a transformative therapy for sickle cell patients

For the millions of people worldwide who have sickle cell disease, there are only a few treatment options, which include risky bone marrow transplants, gene therapy or other treatments that address a subset of symptoms.

9 Apr 2021

Sickle Cell Disease

Overview

What is Sickle-Cell Disease?

Sickle-Cell Disease Classification

Sickle Cell Disease Diagnosis

Feature Articles

Sickle-Cell Disease Pathophysiology

Sickle-Cell Disease Genetics

Sickle-Cell Disease Treatment

Sickle-Cell Disease History

Sickle Cell Disease Carriers

Sickle-Cell Disease Symptoms

What is Sickle Cell Trait (SCT)?

Treatment Options for Sickle Cell Disease

COVID-19 and Sickle Cell Disease

Current Challenges in Sickle Cell Disease

Latest Sickle Cell Disease News and Research

Lehigh’s undergraduate students receive NIH Award for new sickle cell diagnostic device

Health care costs for people with rare diseases have been underestimated, study shows

Existing drug reduces obesity and fatty liver in mice without changes in food intake or daily activity

Researchers seek to identify the role of hypoxia on red blood cell aging

Nemours receives $10.5 million NIH grant to support research in sickle cell disease

Hydroxyurea therapy can improve or reverse cardiac complications in sickle cell anemia patients

Chief medical officers to consider vaccination of 12 to 15 year olds from a broader perspective

Obstructive sleep apnea may affect heart health and increase blood pressure in children

Oral prodrug delivers carbon monoxide to protect against acute kidney injury

Most states did not use health equity committees to assist with COVID-19 vaccine distribution planning

Citizens’ jury set to reflect deeply on the pros and cons of human genome editing

Global blood centers join hands to develop more efficient, accurate blood typing technology

UCSF launches new initiative to propel the development of living therapeutics

Johns Hopkins researcher receives prestigious award for breakthrough research in circadian science

Pitt researchers use a unique and powerful MRI device to study sickle cell disease

Researchers develop proof-of-concept treatment for blood disorders

New technique can help to non-invasively assess progression of sickle cell retinopathy

High-throughput system can regulate gene expression for treating sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia

California and Texas took different routes to vaccination. Who’s ahead?

Toward a transformative therapy for sickle cell patients

Could heart rate be a risk factor for dementia?

Can meal times affect your risk of glucose intolerance?

How has COVID-19 Impacted our Economy?

Sickle Cell Disease

Overview

Feature Articles

Sickle-Cell Disease Pathophysiology

Sickle-Cell Disease Genetics

Sickle-Cell Disease Treatment

Sickle-Cell Disease History

Sickle Cell Disease Carriers

Sickle-Cell Disease Symptoms

What is Sickle Cell Trait (SCT)?

Treatment Options for Sickle Cell Disease

COVID-19 and Sickle Cell Disease

Current Challenges in Sickle Cell Disease

Latest Sickle Cell Disease News and Research

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