HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) – For the more than 100,000 Americans battling Sickle Cell Anemia, a large portion of that fight involves maintaining healthy blood cells.
Sickle Cell patients often require multiple blood transfusions throughout their lifetime.
Local blood drives help make those processes easier. Non-profits like LifeSouth and The North Alabama Sickle Cell Foundation hold pop-up blood drives for those willing to donate.
District Community Development Coordinator for LifeSouth in Madison, Becky Cecil, explained a typical blood transfusion for a sickle cell patient can require up to four pints of blood. But certain markers determine if a donor can be a “sickle cell hero.”
“Sickle cell patients require a special antigen-matched blood to minimize complications,” said Cecil. “When we have someone come in that could possibly be a “sickle cell hero” we do some special testing with them to then benefit a sickle cell patient.”
Because blood transfusions are often needed as patients age, the National Institute of Health Clinical Center is recruiting for a study to determine the best ways to collect, process and store umbilical cord blood from babies with sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait.
If cord blood tests show the baby has sickle cell disease, the blood will be frozen for an indefinite period for possible use in future treatment of the child.
Board Certified OB-GYN Nicole Sparks tells News 19 this research could result in patients no longer needing blood transfusions.
“What they do is put the affected child through chemo therapy because those cells aren’t good anymore and they can actually replace those cells with the ones that you stored via chord blood. A lot of research is going into this and this could potentially lead to some cures for sickle cell disease,” Sparks said.
More resources for Sickle Cell Anemia can be found on the North Alabama Sickle Cell website. To learn more about how you can donate blood, visit LifeSouth.org.
