New treatment developed to tackle sickle cell disease
New treatment developed to tackle sickle cell disease
- World Sickle Day, observed on June 19, can well be leveraged to create awareness about easier option of its cure available now. Swollen hands and feet; episodes of intense pain in the chest, abdomen, joints or bones; and frequent infections are some of the leading symptoms of sickle cell anemia. Because the disease causes the body to have a shortage of red blood cells, it is also characterized by chronic fatigue. In infants, children and teenagers, sickle cell anemia can cause delayed growth and puberty.
It is a very debilitating disease. As found in one of ICMR surveys, about 20 per cent of children with sickle disease died by the age of two and 30 per cent children with SCD among the tribal community die before they reach adulthood. It has not been easy to tackle this disease in the absence of availability of easy transplant options. But things have changed for better.
- World Sickle Day, observed on June 19, can well be leveraged to create awareness about easier option of its cure available now. Swollen hands and feet; episodes of intense pain in the chest, abdomen, joints or bones; and frequent infections are some of the leading symptoms of sickle cell anemia. Because the disease causes the body to have a shortage of red blood cells, it is also characterized by chronic fatigue. In infants, children and teenagers, sickle cell anemia can cause delayed growth and puberty.
It is a very debilitating disease. As found in one of ICMR surveys, about 20 per cent of children with sickle disease died by the age of two and 30 per cent children with SCD among the tribal community die before they reach adulthood. It has not been easy to tackle this disease in the absence of availability of easy transplant options. But things have changed for better.