Can hydrea be used to help children with sickle cell disease?
Updated by Dr. Lewis Hsu 7/04 – Hydroxyurea therapy for adult sickle cell patients is commonly accepted therapy, and the United States FDA approved this use since 1997. Hydroxyurea therapy for children had probably made the transition from “experimental therapy” to “commonly accepted therapy,” but the FDA has not officially approved hydroxyurea for children because fewer pediatric patients have been studied on hydroxyurea. More teenagers have been treated with hydroxyurea than younger children. Therefore, the descriptions of side effects and crisis reduction benefits are going to change as new information comes out in the next several years of additional experience with hydroxyurea for pediatric sickle cell patients. In general, the side effects for pediatric and adult sickle cell patients on hydroxyurea look like they are similar: 1) COMMON: MILD NAUSEA OR UPSET STOMACH – many patients have this only for the first few weeks at certain dose, then the nausea goes away. Sometimes nausea
