September is National Sickle Cell Awareness Month

Posted September 2, 2016 by Premier Disability Services, LLC® September is National Sickle Cell Awareness Month. First officially recognized by the federal government in 1983, National Sickle Cell Awareness Month calls attention to sickle cell disease (SCD), a genetic disease that researchers estimate affects between 90,000 and 100,000 Americans.

Sickle cell disease is inherited. People who have the disease inherit two copies of the sickle globin gene—one from each parent. The gene codes for production of an abnormal hemoglobin, leading red blood cells to become distorted and shaped like crescents or sickles. These cells are sticky and can block blood vessels, leading to organ damage, and severe episodes of pain known as crises.

Some people have mild symptoms, while others have very severe symptoms and are hospitalized frequently for treatment. Most people in the US with sickle cell disease can expect to live at least into middle age. Some of these people have few symptoms, but some live with a considerable burden of disease, including recurrent and chronic pain, lung disease, leg ulcers, and other complications. Persons with sickle cell disease are also at risk of pneumonia, bone infections, and other infections.

If sickle cell anemia has left you unable to work, you may be eligible to receive Social Security Disability benefits. Social Security pays benefits to individuals diagnosed with this medical condition that meet certain criteria, or can otherwise show that they are permanently disabled. If you or someone you know has a qualifying medical condition, please contact us for a free evaluation of your claim.

Source: National Institute of Health; http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/news/spotlight/fact-sheet/sickle-cell-disease-research-care

By: Joyce Trudeau of Premier Disability Services, LLC^®