Sickle Cell Anemia Episode 025

Episode summary introduction:

Welcome to The Nursing Post podcast: all nursing, all the time with Ashley Moore and Rosa Horsley. This episode we discuss Sickle Cell Anemia. Our goal is always to inform, help and start conversation.

Topic 1:

In patients with sickle cell anemia, their blood cells are stiff and sickle- or crescent-shaped. Because of their stiffness, these abnormal red blood cells may get stuck inside small blood vessels. This can cause episodes of pain, known as pain crises.

Topic 2:

A blood test can check for the defective form of hemoglobin that underlies sickle cell anemia. In the United States, this blood test is part of routine newborn screening.

Topic 3:

Managing sickle cell anemia is usually done by avoiding pain episodes, relieving symptoms and preventing complications. Treatments might include medications and blood transfusions. For some children and teenagers, a stem cell transplant might cure the disease.

Outro:

It comes down to better pain management and compliance to treatment to help improve patients quality of life. There is active research on gene therapy to try to find and isolate the gene that causes sickle cell disease, to hopefully find a cure for all patients with SCD.

References:

https://www.sicklecellsociety.org/about-sickle-cell/

https://www.hematology.org/education/patients/anemia/sickle-cell-disease

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/sickle-cell-disease

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/facts.html

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/sickle-cell-disease

https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/sicklecell/index.html

https://www.hematology.org/education/patients/blood-basics#:~:text=Red%20cells%20contain%20a%20special,so%20it%20can%20be%20exhaled.

https://sicklecellanemianews.com/causes-sickle-cell-disease/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sickle-cell-anemia/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20355882

https://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/0301/p1363.html

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/nursing-implications.html