How does a person get sickle cell disease?
Sickle Cell Anemia is not ‘catching’. We all have two copies of the gene for HbA, one inherited from our mother and one inherited from our father. Now, if one parent carries the HbS gene then sickle cell trait can occur in their baby. This means that the child is a carrier of the sickle cell gene, but has enough HbA to keep their red blood cells flexible. So the child will not have the symptoms of Sickle Cell Anemia. Very occasionally they have to be careful when doing things that demand less oxygen than normal, for example scuba diving. If both parents carry the trait then the child may be born with the full Sickle Cell Disease with the symptoms as described below. There are other types of hemoglobin such as HbC and beta thalassaemia, that when combined with sickle hemoglobin cause sickling disorders. Consequently, there are different forms of Sickle Cell Disorder, which occur in different ethnic groups. The symptoms of sickle cell disease. Symptoms include fatigue, breathlessness, bo
