News

Sunday, June 19, is World Sickle Cell Awareness Day. The Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of California is one of the organizations focusing on the still-unmet needs of patients affected by the disease, and has announced the opening of multidisciplinary sickle cell disease (SCD) services, an initiative by the Pacific…

Researchers investigated how the levels of reticulocytosis, the increase of circulating immature red blood cells, correlated with increased hospitalizations and cerebrovascular pathologies in pediatric patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) receiving chronic transfusion therapy (CTT). According to the findings, in this group of children with SCA, cerebrovascular pathology at initiation…

Researchers investigated renal papillary necrosis (RPN), a chronic complication of sickle cell anemia, and found low incidence in South-Eastern Nigerian sickle cell anemia patient cohort, but higher association rates with female patients. The study, “Prevalence and associations of symptomatic renal papillary necrosis in sickle cell anemia patients in South-Eastern Nigeria,” was…

Researchers in Brazil failed to find any genetic determinants for incidents of stroke in children with sickle cell disease (SCD), although their findings did suggest that SCD boys and those with sickle cell anemia were most at risk. The study, “Genetic determinants and stroke in children with sickle cell…

Researchers developed an evaluation method that accurately and comprehensively assesses antibiotic prophylaxis adherence in children with sickle cell disease (SCD). The study, “A validated measure of adherence to antibiotic prophylaxis in children with sickle cell disease,” was published in Patient Preference and Adherence. SCD, a genetic disorder that…

Alberta Children’s Hospital, the world’s leading pediatric center for stem cell (SC) transplant, is welcoming more sickle cell (SC) anemia patients for transplant procedures. SC anemia is a genetic disorder that alters the shape of the hemoglobin, a protein component of red blood cells responsible for transporting oxygen…

A novel nontoxic transplantation method using antibodies proves safe and effective in treating blood diseases, including sickle cell anemia, according to new research. The study, “Non-genotoxic conditioning for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation using a hematopoietic-cell-specific internalizing immunotoxin,” was published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. Patients with blood disorders,…

Researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine examined the effects of protective parenting and parent catastrophizing in the quality of life and functional disability of adolescents dealing with  chronic pain associated with sickle cell anemia. Catastophizing refers to over protective parenting that sometimes inteferes with a maturing child’s social, developmental and…

Global Blood Therapeutics, a biopharma focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of blood-based disorders such as sickle cell disease (SCD), will host an investor’s webcast at 1:30 p.m. June 10. The event will feature members of GBT’s management team and experts during a review of…

A Brazilian study of the relationship between sickle cell anemia (SCA) and endodontic disease indicated that SCA patients in need of a root canal are at risk of infections that stimulate the immune system. The findings highlight the need for government polices to improve dental care for these patients. The study, “Sickle cell anemia in Brazil: personal,…