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HEALTHY REASONING: Think Sickle Cell Before Pregnancy

HEALTHY REASONING: Think Sickle Cell Before Pregnancy

By Allan Bucka Jones
Pride Health Columnist

Are you planning to have a child? Are you expecting a newborn soon? Do you know your sickle cell status? Do you know your partner’s sickle cell status?

So what is sickle cell disease, and what is meant by sickle cell status? Sickle cell disease is an inherited disease that affects a protein called hemoglobin in the red blood cells. Hemoglobin carries oxygen around the body. When someone has sickle cell disease, their hemoglobin does not work properly, leading to severe pain, a higher chance of serious infections, organ damage, heart attack or stroke. A person with sickle cell disease needs lifelong treatment. Your sickle cell status indicates whether you have sickle cell disease or just a carrier of the gene for sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease causes red blood cells to “sickle”, they change from a circular normal do-nut shape to a crescent moon shape. Sickled red blood cells can block blood vessels with several associated problems. This is called a sickling crisis.

If two individuals who are carriers of the sickle cell gene, decide to have a child, they should be aware that for each pregnancy, there is a one in four (25%) chance that the child can be born with full blown sickle cell disease. If you are going to take this chance, you should be prepared to deal with the consequences, such as several sickle cell crises, and problems with the child growing normally.

Sickle cell disease runs in families and is caused by a problem with the hemoglobin gene. Genes are the instructions that tell our bodies how to grow and develop. Most people have two normal copies of the hemoglobin gene, one from the mother and one from the father. A person with sickle cell disease has two sickle hemoglobin genes, one from each parent. For a couple to have a child with sickle cell disease, both parents must be carriers. A carrier of sickle cell disease has one normal hemoglobin gene and one sickle hemoglobin gene. A carrier does not have and will not develop, sickle cell disease. You can have a blood test to find out if you are a carrier of sickle cell disease. If you want to do this test, talk to your family doctor.

There are routine tests for sickle cell disease done shortly after birth on every baby born in Ontario. A positive result means that the baby likely has sickle cell disease, but further testing is done to confirm the diagnosis and the type of sickle cell disease. Babies with sickle cell disease can be healthier if treatment begins earlier. For example, the early treatment reduces the chance of serious infections, with preventive antibiotics and urgent medical care if the baby has a fever. Parents can also learn how to deal with symptoms of a sickling crisis. Medications or therapies to help control pain can also be given when needed.

Sickle cell disease is not a Black disease. Anyone can have sickle cell disease, but is seen more often in people from Africa, the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Middle East, South East Asia, Western Pacific Region, South America and Central America.

So if you are deciding to have a child, check out the sickle cell status of your partner and yourself. This information may cause you to not proceed with the pregnancy, or take a chance with the 1 in 4 odds, if both parents are carriers of the sickle cell gene.

The pain sometimes experienced by sickle cell individuals is quite excruciating. I heard a medical doctor, with a large sickle cell disease practice, state recently that a female patient told her the pain far exceeds that of childbirth. Please think sickle cell before pregnancy.

Allan Bucka Jones is a Health Promoter and Broadcaster. He can be heard on “Allan Bucka Jones LIVE”, Sundays from 3 to 5pm on CHRY 105.5 FM, CHRY RADIO App, www.chry.fm option RDO.to , Rogers Digital Cable 945, Bell Fibe 973 or mobile app TuneIn Radio. You can contact Allan Bucka Jones at allan@jonesandjones.ca.

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