How to Prevent Sickle-Cell Anemia
Sickle-cell anemia is a blood condition that causes red blood cells to form irregular shapes. These sickle cells can cause a variety of problems in the body, including pain, fatigue, illness and possible organ damage. The condition is hereditary, so there is little you can do to prevent sickle-cell anemia, although you can take steps to minimize flareups.
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Instructions
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Prevent Sickle-Cell Anemia
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Have a blood test done to see if you are a sickle-cell carrier. A small blood sample will be taken and analyzed for hemoglobin S. If you have sickle cells in your blood but do not experience any symptoms, then you have the sickle-cell trait, which can put your children at risk for having the full condition.
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Speak with your doctor or genetic counselor if you and your spouse have a history of sickle-cell anemia in your families or if you have the sickle-cell trait. This condition is a recessive trait, meaning that both parents must pass it on for the child to have it. Each child has a 25 percent chance of having sickle-cell anemia if both parents have the trait.
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Start your child on penicillin when he is 2 to 4 months old if blood tests determined he has sickle-cell anemia. Antibiotics are essential to prevent infections and diseases that can occur due to the child's weakened immune system. He may need to take penicillin regularly until he's 5 to 6 years old to prevent pneumonia.
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Continue to visit the doctor regularly to prevent sickle-cell anemia flareups in your child. The doctor will monitor her blood cell levels and may want to give her a blood transfusion or supplemental oxygen.
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Stay up to date on the developing ways to cure and prevent sickle-cell anemia. Bone marrow transfusions are showing promise for permanently treating sickle cell, although the transplant and donor selection process still need to be refined for it to become a widely used treatment. New medical technology may even allow doctors to modify the genes that cause sickle-cell anemia and prevent the condition entirely.
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Tips & Warnings
The life expectancy of sickle cell-anemia patients has risen over the past few decades, so stay positive if your child is born with it. Proper care can often prevent and manage the worst effects of sickle-cell anemia.
People of Middle Eastern and African descent are more likely to have the sickle-cell trait because historically the gene has helped people from those regions survive malaria outbreaks.
