September is National Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month. Sickle cell disease is a group of conditions that affect hemoglobin, which allows red blood cells to carry oxygen to all parts of the body. Red blood cells that contain sickle hemoglobin are inflexible and can stick to blood vessel walls, causing a blockage that slows or stops blood flow.
On May 18, 1973, House Bill 32 created the Council on Sickle Cell Syndrome and the North Carolina Sickle Cell Syndrome Program to provide education, testing and counseling for sickle cell syndrome and related disorders.
The program provides infants, children, adolescents, and adults affected by sickle cell disease with newborn screening follow-up, care coordination, referrals to clinical and related services, access to a reimbursement program to assist with medical services for eligible patients, and sickle cell educational materials and information.
Sickle cell disease is inherited and affects over 100,000 people in the US, disproportionately affecting African Americans. The burden of sickle cell disease lies in economic hardship and the severe complications associated with this disease, including anemia, acute and chronic pain, infection, pneumonia, stroke, multiorgan damage and a reduced average life expectancy of 20 years.
In North Carolina, it is estimated that over 90,000 people have sickle cell trait or a related hemoglobin trait such as hemoglobin C trait, hemoglobin E trait and beta-thalassemia trait. Do you know if you have a sickle cell trait? Most people with a sickle cell trait do not know, putting them at risk of having a child with sickle cell disease and, in rare cases, putting them at risk for health complications. Contact your doctor or local health department to request a sickle cell test.
Learn more about sickle cell disease and the sickle cell trait, and check out the list of sickle cell events planned in honor of National Sickle Cell Disease Month in September on the Division of Public Health's website and the CDC's website.