sickle cell anemia

noun

Definition of sickle cell anemia

: a chronic inherited anemia that occurs primarily in individuals of African, Mediterranean, or southwest Asian ancestry who are homozygous for the gene controlling hemoglobin S and that is characterized especially by episodic blocking of small blood vessels by sickle cells

— called also sickle cell disease

Examples of sickle cell anemia in a Sentence

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Those carriers have about 300,000 children each year with sickle cell anemia. — Carl Zimmer, New York Times, "How One Child’s Sickle Cell Mutation Helped Protect the World From Malaria," 8 Mar. 2018 There's no cure for most people with sickle cell anemia. — Andrea K. Mcdaniels, baltimoresun.com, "Howard County family provides support for sickle cell disease patients," 11 July 2018 Today, sickle cell anemia remains a heavy burden on public health. — Carl Zimmer, New York Times, "How One Child’s Sickle Cell Mutation Helped Protect the World From Malaria," 8 Mar. 2018 Watchful waiting For Goins, one of the most difficult parts of raising a child with sickle cell anemia is playing the waiting game. — Amy Schwabe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "You'd never know this happy-go-lucky 2-year-old has sickle cell anemia. But it's always on her mom's mind.," 11 June 2018 Gloria Karungi of Farmington Hills, the plaintiff, wants to have another child with embryos that belong to her and Ronaldlee Ejalu in order to provide a cure for their daughter, who has sickle cell anemia, according to the Associated Press. — Hasan Dudar, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan woman seeks guardian for frozen embryos," 6 June 2018 Human trials are just beginning for Crispr therapies that would fight cancer and treat sickle cell anemia. — Wired.com Staff, WIRED, "WIRED’S Predictions for Bots, Blockchains, Crispr, and More," 22 May 2018 Due to his condition of sickle cell anemia, an illness which causes chronic pain and fatigue, Reyes takes opioid medications such as methadone and morphine. — Johanes Rosello, ajc, "Nuestra Comunidad: Opioid epidemic kills more Latinos every year," 27 Apr. 2018 The company is also developing a gene therapy for sickle cell anemia. — Sarah Toy, WSJ, "Gene Therapy Shows Promise in Patients with a Blood Disorder," 19 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sickle cell anemia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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The first known use of sickle cell anemia was in 1922

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sickle cell anemia

noun

variants: also sickle cell disease

Medical Definition of sickle cell anemia

: a chronic anemia that occurs in individuals (as those of African or Mediterranean descent) who are homozygous for the gene controlling hemoglobin S and that is characterized by destruction of red blood cells and by episodic blocking of blood vessels by the adherence of sickle cells to the vascular endothelium which causes the serious complications of the disease (as organ failure)