Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder affecting red blood cells that can cause anemia, pain, organ damage and even death. The disease affects one in 375 African-Americans and some people of Hispanic, Mediterranean and Native American descent. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer, sickle cell and other deadly diseases.St. Jude has one of the largest sickle cell disease programs in the country with more than 800 patients.
Here is more information about St. Jude’s:
- Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
- St. Jude is one of the largest publishers of educational literature for sickle cell disease written for parents, children, educators and healthcare professionals.
- St. Jude was the first institution to cure sickle cell disease with a bone marrow transplant in the 1980s.
- St. Jude led a national study that showed, in 2011, that a drug used to treat adult sickle cell patients is safe and effective for use in infants and toddlers. The drug, hydroxyurea, cut down on hospitalizations and eased other symptoms of the disease in very young patients.
- St. Jude has always been committed to studying sickle cell disease. The first research grant received – even before the hospital opened – was for sickle cell research.
- St. Jude developed a nationally recognized program to help teenagers with sickle cell disease learn how to continue managing their disease as they grow up so their quality of care doesn’t suffer during the transition to adulthood and non-pediatric care providers.
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Get Well Wednesday: Yvonne Carroll Talks St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, A Leading Treatment Center For Sickle Cell Anemia was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
