Sickle Cell Disease and Iron Overload

What is Sickle Cell Disease?

Sickle cell disease, also called SCD, is a blood disorder. It is the most common blood disorder that you can be born with. The red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs and deliver it to the rest of the body. The body needs oxygen to work the way it should. Normal red blood cells are round, like a disc and very flexible. They can also squeeze through small paces like tiny blood vessels.

People with SCD have red blood cells that are not the right shape. If you have SCD, then you have some red blood cells that:

• Are curved like a crescent or a sickle and are hard and brittle
• Are not able to change shape or squeeze through some of the very small passageways that blood needs to go through
• Can get stuck in small blood vessels
• Can break into pieces
• Can block the flow of blood

Not having enough healthy red blood cells is called anemia.

That is why SCD is sometimes called sickle cell anemia. Blood transfusions help people with SCD. But, each blood transfusion also adds extra iron to the body. The body has no way to remove this extra iron. Over time, this extra iron builds up in the body and can cause problems.

Having too much iron in your body from blood transfusions is called iron overload. Iron may make you:

• Almost 2 times as likely to have multiple painful episodes each year
• 2.5 times as likely to get diabetes
• At risk of a number of other serious health issues

Blood transfusions are an important treatment for your sickle cell disease. But they also put extra iron in your body. After 10 transfusions, you may have too much iron. This is called iron overload.

The good news is that there are treatments that can remove the extra iron. Speak to your doctor about treatment options that might be right for you, and join us for the Be Sickle Smart Empowerment Tour. Find dates and locations.