Abstract
Sickle cell disease (SCD) and trait (SCT) are acknowledged as existing in North America and Africa but often overlooked is the fact that they also are found in Central America and northern South America, primarily in those areas into which blacks were brought from Africa. Hemoglobin A is the normal hemoglobin which has a glutamic acid in position 6, while hemoglobin S is the characteristic hemoglobin of sickle cell disease and has a valine in position 6 (1). In an SCD or SCT patient in crisis, hemoglobin gels and leads to the formation of the classically sickled shape red blood cell (RBC); when hemoglobin S remains in its gel status, the RBC’s become irreversibly (or permanently) sickled (2).