Sickle Cell Disease (Archived)

Excerpt

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a multisystem disorder and the most common genetic disease in the United States, affecting 1 in 500 African Americans. About 1 in 12 African Americans carry the autosomal recessive mutation, and approximately 300,000 infants are born with sickle cell anemia annually. The understanding of the phenotypic expression of the disease is still limited. However, environmental factors such as cold weather and air quality, infections, fetal hemoglobin level, and other genetic subtypes play a role in the manifestation of the disease. Clinical manifestations are variable and affect multiple systems, and generally cause lower life expectancy.