Or register here
Global Search

Trusted Resources: Evidence & Education

Scientific literature and patient education texts

Back to Evidence & Education / Patient Education

Fighting Painful Misconceptions About Sickle Cell Disease in the ER

key information

source: Black Health Matters

year: N/A

summary/abstract:

When sickle cell patients arrive at emergency rooms, they often have great difficulty getting the treatment they need. Paula Tanabe, an associate professor at the Duke University School of Nursing, is making it her mission to change that.

Sickle cell disease, an incurable genetic blood disorder most common among people of African descent, affects 100,000 Americans. It causes normally disc-shaped red blood cells to take the form of pointed crescents or sickles. Common complications—which often bring death by the mid-40s—include strokes, anemia, severe infections, and damage to blood vessels, kidneys, eyes, and other organs. Treatment can also be complicated because many patients are unable to work and that can lead to a lack of health insurance.

Acute and unpredictable pain, severe enough to require large doses of narcotics, is a well-documented feature of sickle cell disease. But Tanabe has found that too often patients in sickle-cell agony are not handled properly by doctors and nurses in the emergency department because they erroneously think the patients may be running scams, seeking drugs.

read more

Related Content

To improve your experience on this site, we use cookies. This includes cookies essential for the basic functioning of our website, cookies for analytics purposes, and cookies enabling us to personalize site content. By clicking on 'Accept' or any content on this site, you agree that cookies can be placed. You may adjust your browser's cookie settings to suit your preferences. More Information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close

© 2025 rareLife solutions Inc.

To improve your experience on this site, we use cookies. This includes cookies essential for the basic functioning of our website, cookies for analytics purposes, and cookies enabling us to personalize site content. By clicking on 'Accept' or any content on this site, you agree that cookies can be placed. You may adjust your browser's cookie settings to suit your preferences. More Information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close