Sickle cell anemia is a tragic burden for many Americans. The course of the disease is marked by a sequence of physiologic crises and complications which can be recognized, predicted, and treated, but not prevented. The facts pertaining to its causes and the illness it produces are not understood, and it is only on the basis of such knowledge that this disease may eventually be controlled. The real tragedy of such an uncontrollable disease is the progressive debilitation and the residual effects of chronic disease on children-children like Debbie whose young life has become a constant battle against illness and a succession of hospitalizations.
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Carl Pochedly (1971) studied this question.