Sickle cell disease

What is it?

Sickle cell disease is a blood disorder which affects a person’s red blood cells. Red blood cells contain a substance called haemoglobin which carries oxygen around the body. If someone has sickle cell disease, they have a type of haemoglobin which makes their red blood cells change shape - becoming curved or sickle-shaped.

These sickle-shaped cells cause two problems. Firstly, they don’t live as long as normal, and this causes anaemia. Secondly, they can’t flow normally through the body’s narrow blood vessels and sometimes, usually under certain conditions, they get stuck. This stops the blood flowing and causes pain, which can be very severe. It can cause other problems too, depending on which part of the body it happens in.

Sickle cell disease is most common among people of West African or Afro-Caribbean origin.

What causes it?

Sickle cell disease is an inherited genetic condition, which your baby will only be born with if he inherits the gene from both you and his other parent.

It can be detected antenatally by amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling.

Looking after a child with sickle cell disease

Every child with sickle cell disease experiences the illness differently. Some are able to lead an almost normal life, while others have a lot of illness and pain, and need extensive medical treatment. Most will need to take regular medicine. All of them will need lots of love and support to help them through painful episodes, help to avoid the things that can lead to these episodes occurring, and encouragement to lead as normal a life as possible.

The Sickle Cell Society site has a lot of information about sickle cell disease and caring for a child who has it.