Does Sickle Cell Only Affect People of African Descent?
More Programs and Publications Featuring Dr. Seethal Jacob
In this program:
Is it true that sickle cell only impacts people of African descent? Watch as expert Dr. Seethal Jacob shares some population groups that sickle cell occurs in and why it's important to have screening of sickle cell trait in all newborns.
Transcript
Leo Hesse:
Dr. Jacob. Here's the big one, there is this misconception out there that people of African descent are the only group that can be affected by sickle cell. Can you speak to that, please?
Dr. Seethal Jacob:
Sure, sure. In today's day and age, sickle cell disease can affect anyone. Yes, while sickle disease does affect those of African descent, it also affects a very large population that are of Indian descent, that are of Latinx descent, that are of Middle Eastern descent as well, and sort of looking at our world today and sort of global migration, really anybody can be affected by sickle cell trait or sickle cell disease, which is why it's important to have universal screening of newborns to look and see if someone has trait or disease. We cannot assume that they do or do not, just based on their ancestry.
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