S ickle cell disease is an inherited disease that affects more than 80,000 people in the United States, ninety percent of whom are of African descent. Sickle cell disease causes anemia, jaundice, damage to the lungs, kidney and spleen, acute pain, and strokes. Sickle cell patients, especially young children, may be easily overwhelmed by infections. Although most patients will not be cured of sickle cell disease, medical care and blood transfusions help manage and prevent the pain and serious complications of the disease.
Blood donors play an important role in sickle cell disease care.
If the blood is not a very close match, the patient may begin to reject the transfusions and an important source of help and hope will be gone. This is a condition known as alloimmunization, and it can be fatal. The best matches for these patients will come from African American donors. If you live outside of the Greater Delaware Valley, you can still help by being a blood donor. The more African Americans who give blood regularly in every community, the greater the likelihood that good matches will be found for patients with sickle cell disease.