Individuals carrying a sickle cell-related genetic trait
Individuals living with sickle cell disease
Hispanic-American Births
African-American or Black Births
Black or African-American Births will roughly have Sickle cell Trait
infants born with SCD annually
of the word's population is carrying a sickle cell-related genetic trait
of the word's population living with SCD is located in Sub-Saharan Africa
of infants born with SCD in Sub-Saharan africa will die before the age of 5
Many different therapies exist to reduce the clinical impacts of SCD and help people living with the disease manage symptoms.
These disease mitigating therapies include:
Red blood cell Transfusions
Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) have been used for the treatment of SCD by replacing bone marrow with blood-forming stem cells from a donor. While BMT is an innovative option, this process is also expensive, risky, and limited to individuals who have a healthy, matching bone marrow donor.
Gene therapy is the latest in potentially curative therapy made available by the FDA for SCD with the approval of CRISPR and Lovo-Cel. These are the first two therapies in a new class of drugs but are limited due to availability and cost. Treatment is time-intensive and the long-term efficacy or impact of gene therapy is not yet fully understood but are still being studied.
Researchers are developing new treatment options that have the potential to cure SCD. It is important for individuals with sickle cell to discuss with their providers whether these options are viable and accessible to address the complex challenges of SCD.