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The History of Sickle Cell Anemia

In Jamaica alone, the hereditary disease occurs in one in every 150 births, with ten percent of the population being carriers. It is even more prevalent in Nigeria, West Africa, where one in 50 births is affected by the disease. While the disease tends to predominate in black population, it also afflicts people of Arab, Indian and Mediterranean descent as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Even in Britain, where there are 5,000 registered patients, mainly among Afro-Caribbean communities, there's considerable reluctance to admit having the disease. According to a WHO report, patients and their families tend to be more co-operative and open about it, and this has made the country an ideal place to undertake a long-term study of sickle cell disease.

Sickle cell disease protrays a geographial distribution. It is, for example, estimated that about 20 percent or more of West Africans possess the abnormal hemoglobin gene, and very few sickle cell (Hbss) sufferers live beyond the age of 30.