Trusted Resources: Evidence & Education
Scientific literature and patient education texts
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Sickle Cell Disease?
source: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
year: 2020
summary/abstract:If a person has sickle cell disease (SCD), it is present at birth. But most infants do not have any problems from the disease until they are about 5 or 6 months of age. Every state in the United States, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories requires that all newborn babies receive screening for SCD. When a child has SCD, parents are notified before the child has symptoms.
Some children with SCD will start to have problems early on, and some later. Early symptoms of SCD may include:
Painful swelling of the hands and feet, known as dactylitis
Fatigue or fussiness from anemia
A yellowish color of the skin, known as jaundice, or whites of the eyes, known as icteris, that occurs when a large number of red cells hemolyze
The signs and symptoms of SCD will vary from person to person and can change over time. Most of the signs and symptoms of SCD are related to complications of the disease.
read moreRelated Content
-
Management of male fertility in sickle cell disease before and after hydroxycarbamideHydroxycarbamide (hydroxyurea or HU) is ...
-
Sickle Cell Disease: Pain ManagementPain is a long-lasting problem for peopl...
-
Sickle Cell Disease Management & Complications: Sophie Lanzkron MD of Johns HopkinsStuck on sickle cell disease? We hammer ...
-
Hospitals See No Link Between US Opioid Crisis and Patients’ Use of Treatment, Study ReportsThe U.S. opioid epidemic is not linked t...
-
When Cracking Down On Opioids Means Tougher Access For Sickle Cell PatientsMany people with sickle cell disease wil...
-
Patient Perspective: The Journey of Pain in Sickle Cell Diseasehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4raFO0e...
-
Sickle Cell Disease and Cold Weather: Dos and Don’tsIn the United States today, one of every...
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.