Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is important to me because like my children I carry the trait. I actually passed the trait onto them just like my mother passed it onto me. She made me aware of it when I was a child and made me remember to let a man know I had the trait and to find out if they had it as well. I have a good friend who has a variation of it (not full blown) but I’ve seen her struggle sometimes during her life with it. Once in college and another time after the birth of her daughter. SCD has always been on my mind and I wanted to make others aware of it.
September marks National Sickle Cell Disease Awareness month. With approximately 72,000 Americans living with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), and an estimated two million, including 1 in 12 African Americans carrying the genetic trait for the disease, SCD represents the most commonly inherited blood disorder in this country. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Service’s Sickle Cell Disease Initiative is working to improve the lives of individuals and families struggling with the disease by improving access to quality care and collaborating with key partners in government, the private sector, researchers, and families affected by SCD. The White House Blog
More information on the Sickle Cell Disease Initiative can be found at http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/assets/pdf/Checked/1/sickel_cell_anemia_factsheet.pdf.
More information on Sickle Cell Disease can be found at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/new/sicklecell.htm.
Let’s stay informed Naturals,
Sabrina
