“The day before his 30th birthday, Marqus Valentine was in a panic. “I was so scared for midnight to come rolling around because subconsciously I was like, ‘This is it. Tomorrow’s my last day on Earth,’” he said.
Like many people with sickle cell, Valentine has watched as one successful advocacy campaign after another brought attention and resources to other disorders, including breast cancer, HIV, cystic fibrosis and Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS). But little is heard about sickle cell. With drug development and other treatments, outcomes for the vast majority of diseases have improved over the past few decades, while life expectancy for sickle cell patients has declined.
Sickle cell disease affects an estimated 100,000 people in the United States, causing chronic pain, multi-organ failure and stroke. With annual costs to treat the disease soaring past $1 billion, new efforts are afoot to improve the lot of patients. But each of these developments faces limitations and obstacles:…”
Read the full article from Kaiser Health News.
