Treatment of patients with sickle cell anemia--another view

Sickle cell anemia is a bad disease, and it occurs in black patients who still face obstacles that whites don't appreciate. Even if a new cure burst forth, it would not be available to many patients, and others would be afraid of it. It probably would not be as safe or effective as chloroquine for malaria or penicillin for pneumonia--and as a result, we should try to improve our present means for delivering care. Treatable complications must be recognized, and painful episodes must be managed with knowledge that no type of pain is exclusively physical or mental. If patients are to function in society, they must have marketable skills--and the current educational system in the United States is not prepared to provide such skills to such difficult students. Finally, there will be some lost souls, hopeless patients who live a shadowy life from which rescue seems nearly impossible. They need specialized care which is not currently available. Such care in special protected environments could be cost-effective, but would require such prolonged enthusiasm and commitment that it may be impossible to achieve.