A possible cure for sickle cell?
Red blood cells with sickle/crescent shaped red blood cell anemia are inherited blood disorders. It results in a lot of infections, swollen hands and legs, pain, extreme exhaustion, and delayed puberty or growth. Treatment usually focuses on symptom management and may involve blood transfusions, antibiotics and immunizations to avoid bacterial infections, painkillers during acute crises, and hydroxyurea to lessen the frequency of pain attacks. The New England Journal of Medicine published a new study (Biologic and Clinical Efficacy of LentiGlobin for Sickle Cell Condition/Kanter et al.) that, if applicable, could lead to a cure for this terrible disease. Martin Steinberg, MD, a professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, offers commentary on the study's findings in an editorial published in this week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. This was the first successful gene therapy study for sickle cell disease, adding a gene that prevents complicati...