Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited blood disorders that affect a person's red blood cells. Hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying molecule in the red blood cell is defective in sickle cell disease. When one sickle hemoglobin gene is inherited from each parent, sickle cell dsease results. People with sickle cell disease have periods of well-being and stages of illness. The periods of illness are called sickle cell crises. Sickle cell crisis occurs when there is a lack of oxygen to the red blood cells, causing them to distort into a crescent or sickle shape. Care for persons with sickle cell disease focuses on prevention of sickle cell crises and management of these crises and resulting complications.The following information is available in Adobe® PDF (portable document format). This requires the use of the Adobe® Acrobat® Reader plug-in, which can be downloaded free of charge.What is sickle cell disease?What can I do to help prevent painful crises?What should I do if I have a painful crisis?Complications of sickle cell diseaseImmunizations in sickle cell diseaseHow can I help my chid be safe at daycare/school?Air travel and sickle cell diseaseGuidelines for management of fever in sickle cell patients
The Sickle Cell Information CenterMedical College of Georgia: An overview of sickle cell diseaseSickle Cell KidsSickle Cell DiseaseTeens HealthPage updated April 2007