What Health Issues Are Associated With Sickle Cell Disease?

 
   

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In this program:

Sickle cell disease can sometimes bring on more severe health issues. Hematology practice nurse Maya Bloomberg explains problems that can develop during pain episodes that SCD patients and their care providers should be aware of.

Transcript

Ariqa Everett:

And so, as we know, being a part of the sickle cell disease community, that they come with a lot of different medical issues and problems caused by the disease that maybe members outside of the committee don't understand, which could relate to some of the issues with people not getting the best care. Does anyone want to share what some of those diseases or problems are?

Maya Bloomberg, APRN:

I always say anywhere blood travels, sickle cell can affect, so right now, we know sickle cell's characterized by these acute unpredictable pain episodes. But what people don't always realize is with each pain episode, you have the risk of having acute complications or chronic complications from repeated...so starting from the head to toe, you can see complications of stroke, you can see sickle cell retinopathy, you can see acute chest syndrome, which is the number one cause of death in sickle cell. Pulmonary hypertension, sickle cell nephropathy, priapism, kidney issues, there are literally sickle cell ulcers, bone infarcts, vascular crisis, anything that you can think of sickle cell can affect. And I think that's the one area that people don't fully understand or might not be aware of. Because if you really understood what patients with sickle cell are going through and understand how delicate each sickle cell crisis is and how that one crisis really can contribute to premature mortality, I would hope that people would be a little bit more empathetic and understanding for what exactly sickle cell is.

The information on Diverse Health Hub is provided for educational purposes only, and is in no way intended to diagnose, cure, or treat any medical or other condition. Always seek the expert advice of your healthcare team.

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