newsdoctor's Blog

That's what doctors wish they could get.. more attention for sickle cell disease. It's a disorder of the red blood cells that carry oxygen to the body and it can be devastating. It can hit people from Latin America, the Middle East or the Mediterranean, but it mostly strikes African-Americans. If both parents carry the gene, they have a one-in-four chance of having a child with some type of sickle cell disease. About one-in-400 African American babies are born with the disorder. The irregular cells clog up blood vessels and cause pain, infections, organ damage and strokes.

Penicillin has helped hold down infections that used to kill many of these children before age 5. But doctors say the average life span for sickle cell patients is around 40-45.

I did a story with a couple that lost their wonderful 25-year old daughter to sickle cell. Miki Hudson suffered a stroke in grade school and had to be home-schooled. Miki's parents, Mike and Stephanie Hudson, and her three sisters would all help massage her limbs when she would suffer excruciating pain. The pain was often so intense that she had to be hospitalized. She had to have frequent blood transfusions. Colds would often turn into pneumonia. Yet she worked in the family business, drew strength from taking care of her nieces and nephews and developed a social life. But a major stroke last May would prove to be too much. Miki had to enter a nursing home. She got the flu.. which turned into pneumonia.. and she died on Valentine's Day of this year.

Doctors need more money for more studies for more and better treatments. Some patients lose their insurance and can't afford the care that's available. In the meantime, Miki's parents say getting educated about the disease can help others avoid the heartache they suffered from Miki's struggle and her death.