Trusted Resources: Evidence & Education

Scientific literature and patient education texts

267 resources available:
Mental Health for BIPOC Summary In addition to COVID-19, recent events have brought heightened attention to the specific stressors faced by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, who may be experiencing heightened fear, anger and grief at this time. Consistent with the Guide’s mission to provide timely mental health resources, we highlight a range of resources that may be useful to BIPOC-identifying ind...

Women with Sickle Cell Disease and Preconception Care: What to Know Before Getting Pregnant

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Sickle Cell Reproductive Health Education Directive (SCRED); Foundation for Women & Girls with Blood Disorders; American Society of Hematology (ASH) Year: 2023
Whether you are planning to get pregnant or just thinking about it, it’s never too early to start preparing for a pregnancy. Preconception care focuses on taking steps before getting pregnant to increase the chances of having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. Women with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at greater risk for developing complications (health problems) during pregnancy than women without SCD. For some women with SCD, pregnancy...
When we are experiencing extreme stress our ability to communicate diminishes massively. We experience lack of clarity, confusion, brain fog and ‘rabbit in the headlight’ syndrome. All of which make it very difficult to communicate effectively during times of stress. Whether we need to express our emotional state or have difficult conversations, when we experience stress we find it difficult to articulate ourselves. Also many people are co...

Priapism: A Simple Guide

Sickle Cell Society
What is a Priapism?  Priapism is an uncomfortable, unwanted erection of the penis which doesn’t go away and is not associated with sexual desire or stimulation. It can frequently be painful and distressing.  The majority of males with sickle cell anaemia (HbSS) are likely to experience a priapism in their life time. However, Priapism is less common in males with sickle cell disease (HbSC+) and sic...

Nutritionist Alana Kessler discusses how diet can help support and improve the quality of life of patients with sickle cell anemia.

Stay Safe and Healthy in Winter

National Center for Environmental Health

Winter storms and cold temperatures can be dangerous. Stay safe and healthy by planning ahead. Prepare your home and vehicles. Prepare for power outages and outdoor activity. Check on older adults.

Although winter comes as no surprise, many of us may not be ready for its arrival. If you are prepared for the hazards of winter, you are more likely to stay safe and healthy when temperatures start to fall.

Show more
490 resources available:
Introduction: Vaso-occlusive pain episodes (VOE) are the leading cause of emergency department (ED) visits & hospitalization in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). During SCD-VOE, patients develop an acute arginine (Arg) deficiency. Supplementation with Arg has shown opioid-sparing effects, improves blood pressure & cardiopulmonary function & decreases length of hospital stay. Though we have previously...
Introduction: All states in the US require hemoglobinopathy testing as part of the newborn screen (NBS) which incidentally identifies individuals with sickle cell trait (SCT). Each state has its own protocol for disclosure of SCT results to families (i.e., via primary care provider (PCP), public health nurse, direct mailing to family) with no standards for documentation in the electronic health record (EHR). Our past wo...
Objectives: The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between periodontal inflamed surface area (PISA) and serum inflammatory biomarkers in patients with sickle cell anemia. Design: Patients with sickle cell anemia (n = 80) and systemically healthy individuals (n = 80) were enrolled in the study. Crisis episodes were recorded and blood samples were co...
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic disease that impacts patients’ quality of life, healthcare costs, and life expectancy. Elevated sickle hemoglobin (HbS), which readily polymerizes, causes red blood cell sickling, leading to chronic hemolytic anemia and complications often requiring hospitalization and transfusions. In 2019, voxelotor, which inhibits HbS polymerization, was approved for SCD treatment. Sickle cell disease (SCD) i...
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with increased risk of poor health outcomes from respiratory infections, including COVID-19 illness. We used US death data to investigate changes in SCD-related mortality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We estimated annual age- and quarter-adjusted SCD-related mortality rates for 2014-2020. We estimated the number of excess deaths in 2020 compared with 2019 using the standardized mortality ratio...
Background: Sickle cell disease is characterized by the painful recurrence of vaso-occlusive events. Gene therapy with the use of LentiGlobin for sickle cell disease (bb1111; lovotibeglogene autotemcel) consists of autologous transplantation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells transduced with the BB305 lentiviral vector encoding a modified β-globin gene, which produces an antisickling hemoglobin, HbA...
Show more
12 resources available:
Mental Health for BIPOC Summary In addition to COVID-19, recent events have brought heightened attention to the specific stressors faced by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, who may be experiencing heightened fear, anger and grief at this time. Consistent with the Guide’s mission to provide timely mental health resources, we highlight a range of resources that may be useful to BIPOC-identifying ind...

A Travel Guide for Adults With Sickle Cell Disease

South Thales Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia Network Year: N/A
People with sickle cell disease generally adapt well to air travel, but it can create difficulties for some. For this reason, it is important to plan ahead and know about potential problems so you can take preventative measures or deal with them should they occur. Choose a travel agent that is registered with ABTA or ATOL. You will need to inform the airline, travel agent and insurance company that you have sickle cell disease. If you...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) believes it is essential to provide updated treatment guidelines that reflect the newest evidence about the disease, ensuring the medical community can better treat SCD and people living with SCD can make the best decisions for their care. In partnership with the Evidence-Based Practice Research Program at Mayo Clinic, the 2019-2021 ASH Clinical Practice Guidelines on Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) w...
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder that affects the red blood cells and occurs when a person has inherited a sickle cell gene from each parent. The sickle-shaped red blood cells break apart easily, clump together, and stick to the walls of blood vessels, blocking the flow of blood and causing a range of complications, including severe pain, acute chest syndrome (a condition that affects the lungs), stroke, organ damage, a...
Objective: These evidence-based guidelines developed by the American Society of Hematology (ASH) are intended to support patients, clinicians, and other health care professionals in pain management decisions for children and adults with SCD. Methods: ASH formed a multidisciplinary panel, including 2 patient representatives, that was thoroughly vetted to minimize bias from conflicts of int...

Sickle cell pain in the emergency department

National Institute for Children’s Health Quality Year: 2015
Sickle cell disease is characterized by unpredictable episodes of extreme pain, known as acute vaso-occlusive episodes (VOE) or pain episodes, caused when sickled red blood cells are unable to move freely through blood vessels. In addition to pain, these changes at the cellular level can also lead to organ damage, stroke and even death. Pain episodes are the most common reason for emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations for patients...
Show more
158 resources available:
This paper reports on the findings of a study designed to establish website‐based self‐management recommendations for sickle cell disease. Google and Yahoo search engines were used to search the World‐Wide‐Web. Purposive sampling was utilized to select 28 websites that met the inclusion criteria. Data were manually collected from health education materials and subjected to qualitative content analysis. Self‐management was con...

Gabapentin for Pain in Sickle Cell Disease: Results of a Randomized Phase ll Clinical Trial

American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Year: N/A
Background: Pain in sickle cell disease (SCD) can have a significant neuropathic component. Therapies targeting neuropathic pain have not been extensively studied in this setting. We report results of a randomized controlled trial evaluating utility of gabapentin for acute vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) pain. Objectives: The primary objective was to evaluate efficacy of gabapentin when added...
Background: Vasoocclusive pain leading to frequent emergency department visits and hospital admissions are the hallmark of sickle cell disease (SCD). Adolescents with SCD are known to have higher rates of emergency department (ED) visits and transition to adult care are associated with significant challenges. Adults with SCD have reported higher rates of stigmatization and perception of neglect when receiving care....
Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited disorder caused by a single amino acid substitution producing sickle hemoglobin (HbS). Deoxygenation of HbS causes polymer formation and red blood cell sickling, which lead to anemia, hemolysis, and vaso-occlusion. These clinical features contribute to the chronic and acute manifestations of SCD. Voxelotor is a once-daily oral therapy designed to modify HbS, interfer...
Background: Vaso-occlusive pain crises account for the majority of hospitalizations in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), and opioids are the mainstay of chronic pain control in SCD. The study sought to: i) examine temporal trends in hospitalization rates and in-hospital mortality rates among adults with SCD ii) compare in-hospital mortality rates for SCD with the rates of opioid prescription...
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic disorder in which deoxygenation results in polymerization of mutated hemoglobin S (HbS) and triggers the downstream effects of red blood cell (RBC) deformation (sickling), hemolytic anemia, vaso-occlusion, inflammation, predisposition to infection, and chronic organ damage. Two distinct pathophysiologic mechanisms of SCD—severe anemia and vasculopathy—overlap to cause severe morbidity. Chronic anemia...
Show more
48 resources available:
Mental Health for BIPOC Summary In addition to COVID-19, recent events have brought heightened attention to the specific stressors faced by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, who may be experiencing heightened fear, anger and grief at this time. Consistent with the Guide’s mission to provide timely mental health resources, we highlight a range of resources that may be useful to BIPOC-identifying ind...

Sickle Cell Disease Implementation Guide

Society of Hospital Medicine Year: N/A
The chronic and potentially debilitating nature of SCD can pose significant challenges for the inpatient management of this patient population. A multidisciplinary hospital team comprised of hospitalists, hematologists, case management, social workers, nursing, and pharmacy must work together collaboratively to improve outcomes for these patients. Patients with SCD face physical, psychosocial, and socioeconomic challenges. Chronic pain with ac...
Several different types of resources are included.  These resources are designed to be beneficial for healthcare professionals (e.g. physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants) who are not sickle cell experts and practice in a variety of settings (e.g. hospitals, primary care clinics, and emergency departments).  • “SCD Conferences” include select presentations from a two day, yearly SCD conference held at Du...
Rationale: The rationale for this article is that one of the most important ways to measure the quality of healthcare is to ask the individuals who actually receive the care. It is beneficial to have a survey that can be easily understood, tells about what people experience and can be used in different places to allow comparisons. In some cases, standard surveys like the Consumer Assessments of Health Care Providers and Systems (CAHPS) and the...

Medicaid and CHIP Sickle Cell Disease Report, T-MSIS Analytic Files (TAF) 2017

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Year: 2021
Sickle cell disease (SCD), the most prevalent lifelong inherited blood disorder in the United States, causes the body to produce red blood cells shaped like crescents or sickles rather than discs. These sickle-shaped blood cells tend to stick to vessel walls leading to blockage and impeding blood flow. When this occurs, oxygen is not delivered to body tissues, which ultimately leads to severe acute and chronic pain episodes known as crises....

Management of the Sickle Cell Spectrum in Basketball Players

Basketball Sports Medicine and Science Year: 2020
Sickle cell spectrum includes sickle cell trait (SCT) and sickle cell disease (SCD) and manifestations range from relatively benign to life threatening. SCT is common affecting almost 3,000,000 Americans and SCD affects approximately 100,000. There are important considerations for sports, exercise, and conditioning in individuals on the sickle cell spectrum. This chapter explores the epidemiology and pathogenesis of SCT and SCD and reviews the...
Show more

To improve your experience on this site, we use cookies. This includes cookies essential for the basic functioning of our website, cookies for analytics purposes, and cookies enabling us to personalize site content. By clicking on 'Accept' or any content on this site, you agree that cookies can be placed. You may adjust your browser's cookie settings to suit your preferences. More Information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close

To improve your experience on this site, we use cookies. This includes cookies essential for the basic functioning of our website, cookies for analytics purposes, and cookies enabling us to personalize site content. By clicking on 'Accept' or any content on this site, you agree that cookies can be placed. You may adjust your browser's cookie settings to suit your preferences. More Information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close