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Make an Impact on Sickle Cell Disease
September 1 marks the beginning of Sickle Cell Awareness month and we invite you to join our efforts in raising awareness of this rare disease. Our sickle cell patients rely on regular blood transfusions to prevent stroke, treat anemia, heart and lung complications and chronic pain. So, we want to ask for your help this month by:
- Providing you with a little bit of information about the disease.
- Asking you to support for our patients through blood donations.
- Asking you to spread awareness through social media.
- Introduce you to one of our sickle cell experts. Look for a video of our very own Thomas Coates, MD.!
Ways You Can Help!
Donate Blood
Schedule an appointment to donate blood or organize a blood drive. Contact us at CHLA.org/GiveBlood or 323-361-2441.
Social Media
Help us raise awareness on Facebook, Twitter and through your blog or website!
- Share our Sickle Cell Awareness Infographic. [COMING SOON!]
- Share our Facebook posts with your friends and family.
- Retweet our updates on Twitter with #SickleCell and #BreaktheSickleCycle.
Keep checking back, more to come!
Sickle Cell Disease can be Deadly
Normal blood cells are smooth, round and flexible. They easily travel through the body. In contrast, blood cells with sickle cell disease are stiff, sticky and in the shape of a crescent moon. Because of this, blood cells are often stuck together and can form deadly clots. Kids with sickle cell disease experience a lot of pain as a result of clots and lack of proper blood flow. Children with sickle cell disease have a 15 percent chance of having a stroke before the age of 20. Our hospital’s Sickle Cell Disease Program treats over 400 children annually, making it the largest in the state of California. Thomas Coates, MD, section head of Hematology at Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles shares, “We are quite fortunate [here] to be in a very large town like Los Angeles, where we have the opportunity to see a lot of patients that have this very rare disorder. We also have an extensive team of physicians and nurse practitioners who have tremendous experience in taking care of all the problems these patients have.”