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Sunday, 4 August 2013

Get Help Through Sickle Cell Charities

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By Lela Perkins


Finding out one's child has been born with an incurable disease can leave many parents searching for someone who can help them understand and cope with their situation. Many Sickle Cell charities are set up to provide services to to those faced with this disorder and their loved ones. They can offer support from as early as birth, right on through the duration of a person's life.

The range of these various organizations is to provide many types of assistance and services pertaining to this condition. Each group may be set up to span a wide range of programs or to concentrate on specific areas of need. Some of the focus points are research, education for physicians, scholarships for patients, children's benefits and adult care issues.

Sickle Cell is classified as a autosomal recessive genetic disease, which means that a person can only have it if they inherit the trait from each of their parents. This is a serious blood disorder, affecting the red cells that carry oxygen to the body, causing anemia and pain along with other issues. People with ancestral roots in countries from Africa, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, India and parts of Latin America run a higher risk of passing this trait along.

Testing is the only way to know for sure if someone has been born with this disease. In most hospitals, blood workups are done automatically on newborns as part of their standard practices. Many parents from at-risk backgrounds choose to have genetic screening done before or during a pregnancy to determine if their babies chances of being afflicted or to become better prepared in care practices.

A person is born with this disease, there is no way to contract it later in life, and there is no known cure at this time. The various symptoms can be treated with medications and managed through specialized techniques. This condition is very serious and is characterized by painful episodes, severe anemia, possible organ and bone damage as well as complicated infections.

in order to best assist both those suffering with the disease and those caring for them, several organizations are in place that help with everything from finding medical care to funding medications. They can assist in getting set up with reliable oncologists and hematologists that specialize in this condition and even lend guidance in follow up treatment. There are even groups that will help procure temporary housing near hospitals for the families of patients undergoing procedures far from home.

There are organizations that raise funds primarily for the purpose of financing research facilities or helping advocates, nurses and physicians gain more credits of study in the area of this disease. Some are geared more towards improving the life quality of those suffering from the condition in various ways including providing college scholarships. There are many more ways in which they lend assistance as well.

Many people are only educated on the disease because of services provided by Sickle Cell charities. These organizations print information packets that are handed out at clinics, hospitals and other medical facilities to help remove some of the misconceptions and stigma associated with this condition. Through their seminars and counseling programs, they are able to make others more aware of the different aspects of the disorder and its treatments.




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