Every year, June 19th is set aside to commemorate World Sickle Cell Day. The goal of this global awareness day is to raise awareness about sickle cell disease and the difficulties that patients, their families, and carers endure.
Notably, sickle cell disease is a blood illness that results in red blood cells taking on a sickle or moon shape as a result of an anomaly in the oxygen-carrying protein known as hemoglobin. These atypically formed cells have the ability to adhere to artery walls, obstructing blood flow and inhibiting adequate oxygen circulation.
People with sickle cell disease, therefore, do not have an adequate supply of healthy red blood cells. Sickle cell disease patients also run the risk of consequences like priapism, acute chest syndrome, blindness, and stroke.
The liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, and spleen are just a few of the organs that sickle cell disease patients may eventually develop damage to. Death may result from the disorder’s complications. The prevention and management of these consequences are the main goals of sickle cell disease treatment.
According to studies, Nigeria is the sickle cell disease (SCD) country with the greatest prevalence in Africa and the world, accounting for more than 8% of infant mortality with an estimated 150,000 newborn deaths each year.
Sickle cell disease patients also run the risk of consequences like priapism, acute chest syndrome, blindness, and stroke.
The liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, and spleen are just a few of the organs that sickle cell disease patients may eventually develop damage to. Death may result from the disorder’s complications. The prevention and management of these consequences are the main goals of sickle cell disease treatment.
According to studies, Nigeria is the sickle cell disease (SCD) country with the greatest prevalence in Africa and the world, accounting for more than 8% of infant mortality with an estimated 150,000 newborn deaths each year.
Medication, blood transfusions, and, in rare circumstances, bone marrow transplants are all forms of treatment for sickle cell disease. The goal of a bone marrow transplant is to replace the body’s damaged cells with healthy ones. The cost of this treatment option, however, makes it unaffordable for the average person.