Be Healthy Sickle Cell Disease

The link between nutrition and sickle cell disease (SCD) might not be readily apparent at first blush. It’s all about the red blood cells.

Billy Garrett, Jr. is just following in his grandfather’s footsteps. Bill Garrett was the first African American to play regularly on a Big Ten Conference varsity basketball team. Garrett, Jr., 26, shares his grandfather’s passion for basketball. He has played for the NBA G League as well as the New York Knicks. He’s now a shooting guard for the basketball league in Poland. Yet, Garrett has sickle cell disease.

Constance Benson, 34, insisted that she had control of her sickle cell disease. In an interview for Be the Match, a program that helps patients in their quest for bone marrow transplants, she stated “I have sickle cell, but sickle cell does not have me. I’ve got this.” But she didn’t.

When kids suffer the pains of a sickle cell disease crisis, they often don’t go through it alone. Their mothers are right there with them even feeling the same pain in their own way.

The transition period is a turning point for young people with sickle cell disease. It’s hard enough for adolescents to begin to assume the mantle of adulthood. For those with SCD, the task is even more challenging.

Programs for adults with sickle cell disease are on the increase in this country. That’s good news, but the bad news is that at one time the necessity was low.

The newborn looks perfect — ten fingers, ten toes and a headful of hair. But a blood test may tell a different story.