Partner Spotlight: Fall 2009
Sickle Cell Disease Association of America (K.C. Chapter)
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| Kansas City-area residents release balloons on World Sickle Cell Day, June 19, 2009, in memory of loved ones who have died because of sickle cell disease. |
The Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, whose Kansas City Chapter provides information and resources to approximately 1,000 children and adults, is a leading advocate for sufferers of the painful lifelong blood disease.
One in every 500 African Americans is born with the inherited disorder, which can lead to strokes, infection and other complications. Sufferers produce an abnormal type of hemoglobin, a component of red blood cells that helps carry oxygen throughout the body. Normally, red blood cells are soft and disc-shaped; they pass easily through small blood vessels. But people with sickle cell disease have hard, crescent-shaped red blood cells, which have more difficulty passing through small blood vessels. The resulting decrease in oxygen can damage tissues and cause episodes of pain that last for hours or days. Other symptoms may include stroke, leg ulcers and loss of vision.
The Kansas City Chapter of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, the only chapter in Missouri, teaches children and young adults with the disease how to take care of themselves. The chapter sponsors an annual summer camp for children ages 6 to 14 and provides counseling, health services referrals, emergency resources and other assistance to help families cope with the disease.
For more information, visit the Kansas City Chapter’s website, or call 816-444-5600 or 800-455-6409.
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