What Is Sickle Cell?

Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects red blood cells. Sometimes these red blood cells become sickle-shaped (crescent shaped) and have difficulty passing through small blood vessels.

Types of Sickle Cell Disease

There are several types of sickle cell disease. The most common are: Sickle Cell Anemia (SS), Sickle-Hemoglobin C Disease (SC)
Sickle Beta-Plus Thalassemia and Sickle Beta-Zero Thalassemia.

What is Sickle Cell Trait?

Sickle Cell trait (AS) is an inherited condition in which both hemoglobin A and S are produced in the red blood cells, always more A than S. Sickle cell trait is not a type of sickle cell disease. People with sickle cell trait are generally healthy.

Inheritance

Sickle cell conditions are inherited from parents just like blood type, hair color and texture, eye color and other physical traits. Hemoglobin genes are inherited in two sets;one from each parent.