Amber M. Yates, MD and Kris Ferguson, MD discuss sickle cell disease and how it affects children.  Sickle cell disease is an inherited disease that can have mild to serious complications.

What exactly is sickle cell disease and what can parents expect when they learn that their child has the disease?  Did you know that taking penicillin twice a day for the first five years greatly increases the quality of life for patients?  Are blood transfusions effective?

Dr. Yates is the co-director of the Sickle Cell Center at the Texas Children’s hospital in Houston

You can follow Dr. Yates on Twitter at @sicklecelldoc

Thank you for listening!