Sickle Cell Trait

[APassionateWoman]

Hi all.

My children are mixed race (Black Caribbean/White Irish). One of them (DD) has Sickle Cell Trait. When we were told (by letter!) the local clinic said they would be sending someone out to discuss this with us. However, after several calls to rearrange, she failed to show up. I have researched it myself and it seems that the main implication is that if DD has children with someone who also has Sickle Cell Trait, their child will have Sickle Cell Disease. Is this correct? Can anyone tell me anything more? And how would you go about approaching discussing this with your child? She is still only a toddler, but am already wondering when I should bring it up with her?!

hi my daughter has the trait too. I was told by letter and then an appointment to speak with somebody at the clinic. I believe you are right that it only has implications when it is time for her to have children and I was assured it is nothing to worry about although they did say that I should let them know if she was due to have an anesthetic I think it is something to do with the oxygen levels.

To be honest I havent even thought about how I will raise the subject with her in the future she is only 5 so it's not been an issue for me yet either??

Also if a person carrying the gene was to have children with a partner also carrying the gene there is only a 1 in four chance they would develop sickle cell disease and a 1 in 2 chance they would inherit the sickle cell gene. If that makes sense.

How did they find out she had it? I can never recall my newborns having any kind of blood test.
Personally I would wait until my child was old enough to fully understand the implications, early teens perhaps?

pink magic i found out from the heel prick test when she was a new born and yes i agree will probably be when she's a teenager when we even consider discussing it with her

Sickle cell trait children/adults also cannot go diving as when coming to the surface they would most likely suffer a sickle cell crisis.

At least that is what I was informed, perhaps someone would confirm that is correct?

my daughter has a trait also i was seen by some one from my local sickle cell & thalasemia centre where i was given a card for my daughter to carry around when she was older. You should always tell the hospital about the trait if a operation is needed as they have to give a higher oxygen mix as too little can cause a sicke cell crisis. Also i was told that vigerous excercing in high heat can cause a crisis & lots of water should be drunk. I informed my daughters school of this & it is logged in her records just incase she hurts herself at school & has to go to hospital also because of P.E.

Hi. I have the trait and so do my two DSs. I found out I had it when I was 17years. My mum had it for almost 50 years before realising!

To echo what people have said, you can do everything when you have the trait, you just need to take precautions with:

1. General anaesthetic: needs extra care as can take longer to come out of it.
2. Scuba Diving: mainly deep depths as when coming up you need extra oxygen.
3. High altitudes: Above 3000m may need to carry an oxygen canister or take walking very slow so as not to collapse due to air being quite thin. Climbing is probably not a recommended activity.
4. Vigorous aerobic exercise may be more difficult but certainly achievable (I used to be a national acrobatic gymnast).

When you have the full disease, most of the red blood cells are sickle shaped and so cannot carry oxygen molecules to the body. In the trait, less than half of them are so you still have at least half the blood cells carrying oxygen. Hence why any situation when there is a drop in oxygen levels may cause a problem.

Also, muscles need the oxygen to work fully so any activity that requires a lot of stamina, eg long distance running etc will be a little bit harder but not impossible of you train correctly.

I have sickle cell myself.its important take preventative measures like keeping war,hydrated,not allowing yourself to be too tired.pinkmagic1,i had a test when i was born

it seems that the main implication is that if DD has children with someone who also has Sickle Cell Trait, their child will have Sickle Cell Disease. Is this correct?