Sickle cell disease: Why patients need blood from African Americans

September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month. One woman who suffers from the disease said there is a critical need for blood, especially from African Americans.”It’s really hard to deal with this sickness,” Cornelia Jones said.Jones, 34, was born with sickle cell. Although she is a carrier, she was able to have two children who carry the trait but don’t suffer from the disease.Every month, Jones has to undergo blood transfusions. Dr. Jennie Law is her hematologist.”My patient is living with hemoglobin SC disease, a form of sickle cell. She requires blood transfusion through a red blood cell exchange. Six to eight units of her blood is removed every month through a machine and she is transfused six to eight units of blood in order to prevent severe life-threatening complications,” Law said.Normal red blood cells are soft, round and can squeeze through tiny blood vessels. People with sickle cell disease have red blood cells that are abnormal. They are stiff, shaped like a sickle, and sometimes block small blood vessels, causing pain and other complications.When the pain gets to be too much, Jones knows it’s time for a transfusion.”You can have pain in your arm, back or your whole body. It’s an unbearable pain. It feels like I got hit by two trucks, or like knives going through my veins,” she said.Since individuals with sickle cell are exposed to blood repeatedly, they can develop antibodies to certain antigens or red blood cells.Law said some of those antigens are associated with certain ethnic and racial groups. That’s why there is a critical need for blood donation from Black and Hispanic people.”It’s really important for people to donate for us, because it helps us manage pain during the time of having sickle cell crisis,” Jones said.When you donate, your blood is tested for specific antigens that are needed to treat sickle cell disease.