Sickle Cell Disease Treatment: What to Expect

If you have sickle cell disease (SCD), your red blood cells aren’t round and flexible like they should be. Instead, they’re stiff and sticky. They’re also shaped like a crescent or a sickle, and get wedged in small blood vessels. The sickled cells can clump and block blood flow. This makes it harder for your blood to carry oxygen through your body, which can leave you tired, in pain, out of breath, and more likely to pick up infections.