Manage Your Health. Reduce SCD-related Complications
People with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at greater risk for heart, lung, and kidney problems compared with the general population. If you have SCD, it is critical that you share your medical history with your healthcare team so that your providers can properly identify and treat any complications of SCD you have or may develop. Your healthcare team may include your primary care provider, SCD provider, and any other healthcare specialists.
In partnership with the American Society of Hematology, CDC is sharing the
“Steps to Better Health for People with Sickle Cell Disease” toolkit, which contains resources to help you manage your health and reduce SCD-related complications. Below is more information about these resources, which you can use and share with others.
Caring for Common SCD Complications - Download Below
Fact Sheets
Overview: Summarizes the common complications of SCD, including blood clots and heart, lung, and kidney problems, and provides links to more detailed fact sheets about each complication.
Blood Clots: Provides steps to lower your risk of blood clots.
Heart: Provides steps to manage high blood pressure.
Lungs: Provides a checklist of the signs and symptoms of lung problems.
Kidneys: Provides steps to manage and treat kidney issues, such as too much protein in the urine, anemia related to chronic kidney disease, and end-stage kidney disease.
3 Tips for Safe Use of Medicines: Provides tips for safe use of medicines prescribed for common complications of SCD.
What You Can Do
Share this toolkit with your community to help educate about steps for better health for people with SCD.
View the complete guidelines, which were designed for healthcare professionals.
Learn more about SCD by visiting CDC’s SCD website.
Stay current on the latest news and updates by following us on Twitter @CDC_NCBDDD.