Anyone can have Sickle Cell Disease or trait including Caucasians but it is seen more in people from Africa, the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Middle East, South East Asia, Western Pacific Region, South America, and Central America.
Sickle Cell Disease runs in families and is caused by a problem with the hemoglobin gene. Genes are the instructions that tell our bodies how to grow and develop.
Most people have two normal copies of the hemoglobin gene – one from their mother and one from their father.
A person with Sickle Cell Disease has two sickle hemoglobin genes, one from each parent.
For a couple to have a child with Sickle Cell Disease, both parents must be carriers.
A carrier of Sickle Cell Disease has one normal hemoglobin gene.
Sickle Cell Disease runs in families and is caused by a problem with the hemoglobin gene. Genes are the instructions that tell our bodies how to grow and develop.
Most people have two normal copies of the hemoglobin gene – one from their mother and one from their father.
A person with Sickle Cell Disease has two sickle hemoglobin genes, one from each parent.
For a couple to have a child with Sickle Cell Disease, both parents must be carriers.
A carrier of Sickle Cell Disease has one normal hemoglobin gene.
