Sickle Cell Trait Facts

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• In some people the red blood cells can take on the shape of a farmer’s sickle.

 

• If you are born with this gene from one parent you have SICKLE CELL TRAIT.

 

• If you are born with this gene from both parents you have SICKLE CELL DISEASE.

 

• A person with sickle cell DISEASE has sickle cells in the blood stream which can cause health problems Such as pain, infection and anemia.

 

• A person with sickle cell TRAIT does not have sickle cells in the blood stream and does not have a disease. They're considered to be a carrier.

 

• If both parents have sickle cell TRAIT, each time a child is born there is a 25% (1 in 4) chance the child will have sickle cell DISEASE. This doesn't mean that if you have four children, one of them will have a chance of being born with sickle cell disease. It means that each child has a 25% chance of being born with the disease.

 

• There are two other fairly common traits that can also result in having a child with sickle cell disease: hemoglobin C trait and thalassemia trait.

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• Since you do not get sick from any of these traits, you may have one of them and not know it.

 

• People of childbearing age should know if they have any of these traits so that they can make informed decisions regarding family planning.

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