History of SCD
The existence of sickle cell disease was first reported around the beginning of the twentieth century when the medical world discovered microscopic oddly shaped red blood cells. In 1910, Dr. James Herrick in Chicago treated an individual with symptoms of pains in the stomach and joints, dizziness and general tiredness. Dr. Herrick examined the individual and discovered leg ulcers and acute chest syndrome. These symptoms were finally linked to a disease called "sickle cell" in 1917.
Dr. Janey Watson observed infants who had normal fetal hemoglobin at birth who later showed evidence of sickling of their blood cells when they began to produce adult hemoglobin at four to six months old. Dr. Linus Pauling in 1949 made the distinction between sickle cell disease hemoglobin (hemoglobin S) and normal hemoglobin (hemoglobin A).
Research for the disease did not really begin until about 1952 when researchers discovered that the inherited disease resided in a defect of the hemoglobin. The Congress of the United States passed a National Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act in 1972. The Act formed the sickle disease branch in the Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institute of Health. It also established ten comprehensive sickle cell centers throughout the United States to develop programs for research, education, screening, counseling and improved care of individual with sickle cell. Newborns that were found to have sickle cell were given prophylactic penicillin until they were five years old.
Dr. Janey Watson observed infants who had normal fetal hemoglobin at birth who later showed evidence of sickling of their blood cells when they began to produce adult hemoglobin at four to six months old. Dr. Linus Pauling in 1949 made the distinction between sickle cell disease hemoglobin (hemoglobin S) and normal hemoglobin (hemoglobin A).
Research for the disease did not really begin until about 1952 when researchers discovered that the inherited disease resided in a defect of the hemoglobin. The Congress of the United States passed a National Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act in 1972. The Act formed the sickle disease branch in the Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institute of Health. It also established ten comprehensive sickle cell centers throughout the United States to develop programs for research, education, screening, counseling and improved care of individual with sickle cell. Newborns that were found to have sickle cell were given prophylactic penicillin until they were five years old.
"Sickle Cell Association of the National Capital Area, Inc." - SCANCA, INC. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2013.