Episode 783
Sickle Cell Has Many Faces
Why watch: Seven segments trace sickle cell disease from a newborn's diagnosis to the frontier of a cure.
Seven segments trace sickle cell disease from a newborn's diagnosis to the frontier of a cure. The CDC's newborn screening film follows parents learning their child has sickle cell and what comes next; a plain-language overview explains how crescent-shaped red blood cells block vessels and cause pain crises and anemia; and the CDC's Beyond the Data conversation with Dr. Phoebe Thorpe shows how those cells damage blood vessels and organs throughout the body. Living with and Managing Sickle Cell Disease centers patients like Tiffany, who shares how she copes with symptoms and the mental health journey of the disease, while Sickle Cell Has Many Faces dispels the myth that it touches only African Americans — it also affects people of Hispanic, South Asian, Middle Eastern, and Southern European descent. Two NIH/NHLBI segments close the half-hour with the research horizon: genomics, better care for patients outside major centers, and the path toward curative therapies. For viewers and families, the program moves from understanding to daily management to hope; for hospitals, hematologists, community health partners, broadcasters, sponsors, and funders, it shows how one broadcast can carry trusted federal science to the communities this disease touches most.
In this program
- A Sickle Cell Anemia Diagnosis
- Advancing Sickle Cell Disease Research
- Beyond the Data – Improving the Lives of People with Sickle Cell Disease
- Living with and Managing Sickle Cell Disease
- Sickle Cell Disease What You Need to Know
- Sickle Cell Has Many Faces
- Vision for the Future of Sickle Cell Disease Research
Sound Tips™ Companion
During this broadcast, Sound Tips™ shares what sickle cell disease can mean for hearing — a connection few families ever hear about. Sickle cell disease affects about 100,000 Americans, occurring in roughly 1 in 365 Black or African-American births and 1 in 16,300 Hispanic-American births, and about 1 in 13 Black babies is born with sickle cell trait. Research shows adults with sickle cell face about six times the risk of sensorineural hearing loss, and children about three times — the same vaso-occlusion that causes pain crises can starve the cochlea of oxygen, sometimes causing sudden hearing loss that doctors describe as an inner ear stroke. Some treatments carry their own risk: the iron chelator deferoxamine has been linked to hearing loss in a substantial share of transfusion-dependent patients, so regular hearing tests belong in every sickle cell care plan. The ticker also shares daily management guidance: drink plenty of water, avoid extreme heat and cold, keep vaccinations current, wash hands often to prevent infection, and see a hematologist regularly. Newborn screening for sickle cell now happens in every state — early diagnosis saves lives. And because sickle cell has many faces, families of every background should know the signs.
- Source: CDC: Sickle Cell Disease Data and Statistics
- Source: CDC: About Sickle Cell Disease
- Source: American Academy of Audiology: SNHL in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease — A Meta-Analysis
- Source: CDC: Sickle Cell Videos and Podcasts
- Source: CDC: Newborn Screening for Sickle Cell Disease
- Source: CDC MMWR: Social Vulnerability and Newborns with Sickle Cell Disease
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