Women with sickle cell disease (SCD) have markedly elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of body-wide inflammation, during the first half of their menstrual cycles, and these variations may contribute to recurrent patterns of vaso-occlusive events (VOEs), complications resulting from blood vessel obstruction that include painful…
Heavier menstrual bleeding and pain during menstrual periods appear to be prevalent among adolescents and young women with sickle cell disease (SCD), affecting their quality of life, but few of these patients use hormonal therapies to help regulate their cycles, a single-site U.S. survey study reported. Knowledge of what…
Winter has finally arrived here in the U.K. I really dislike the winter, in case you didn’t know. One of my biggest sickle cell disease crisis triggers is cold weather. Although sickle cell patients have different pain crisis triggers, almost all sickle cell patients are triggered by cold…
I wrote about feeling unwell without any apparent cause in September, and then again last month. So, guess what? I was recently sick again. But in my quest for silver linings, I should stress that I think I have finally identified the cause: my period. The U.K.’s National…
Acute vaso-occlusive pain is associated with the onset of menstruation, and about 25% of the women with sickle cell disease can differentiate these episodes from menstrual-cramp pain, a study found. Findings in the study, “Acute Vaso-Occlusive Pain is Temporally…
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