This Week in Sickle Cell News July 7-12

By Sean Marshall

Good news for those who are suffering from sickle cell anima or just have any questions about the disease itself. According to Huewire.com, an online source for news in Mississippi, a treatment center for Sickle cell disease has just opened up in Missouri. The center's opening took place on the 17th of June and is located at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.  Unfortunately many media sources had not picked up on such an important milestone for those suffering from sickle cell anemia.

The good news however is that the clinic is "meant to give specialized  care to realize the chronic excruciating  pain sufferers of this inherited disease must go through." What makes the clinic so important is that it is one of the first in its kind. Before its opening any individual suffering from sickle cell anemia complications would "have to rely on emergency rooms where waiting times could range from minutes to hours."

This put a lot of people at risk but now with the center managing the flow of patients not just the people with sickle cell disease but clearing up emergency rooms as well. The article did go on to say that "anyone suffering from sickle cell anemia is still more then welcome to UMMC emergency rooms they are still more then welcome there and can still receive treatment

If you would like to know more follow the link below: 
http://huewire.com/health/sickle-cell-anemia-treatment-clinic-opens-mississippi/2204/

Other sickle cell anima news from the states involves the NFL twins Devin and Jason McCourty raising sickle cell awareness. Devin, a 2010 first-round pick of the Patriots and twin brother Jason, who plays for the Titans have partnered with Embrace Kids foundation.
The twins have lost close family to the disease and according to thepostgame.com plan on spreading awareness of this crippling disease.  It was explained in detail that "Their father carried the trait, so the twins were tested to see if they had it as well. Fortunately for them, they do not. But after their father passed, the two grew close to their aunt and uncle who do have the disease."

The most exciting news was that the twins plan on using their fame as NFL players to launch a "Public Service Announcement (PSA) to kick-start Sickle Cell Awareness Month." The two seem to have to have further plans involving raising more money for research and even more awareness.

If you would like to learn more about the NFL twins story or how you can help follow the link:
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/more-family-fun/201407/devin-jason-mccourty-nfl-rutgers-sickle-cell-embrace-kids     

Lastly in medical breakthrough news another discovery towards ending sickle cell animea has been made. According to healthcanal.com's latest article concerning sickle cell animeia, "A compound discovered at Virginia Commonwealth University has taken yet another step closer to becoming the only approved drug in the world that is therapeutically effective in managing adult sickle cell disease by targeting hemoglobin."

The purpose of the Aes-103 is to "bind to and stabilizing the relaxed state of hemoglobin and increasing oxygen affinity and stabilization, thereby reducing the sickling of red blood cells which, in turn, may reduce sickling-related outcomes such as vaso-occlusive crisis, pain, severe anemia and fatigue."

According to the report the medical compound is called Aes-103 the compound is one of the first steps in medical breakthrough for pain tolerance brought on by hemoglobin imbalances. The Aes-103 drug production program is "currently in a Phase 2 clinical trial as part of an ongoing collaboration with the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences." This means the drug is on its ways to human testing in no time.

If you would like to learn more about Aes-103 and other early stage medical drug testing go to the link below.
http://www.healthcanal.com/medical-breakthroughs/52894-another-step-toward-sickle-cell-disease-treatment.html

If there are any comments questions or concerns about what has been said here feel free to send an email to [email protected]