Sickle cell treatment now available at Kingston General Hospital

New treatment options are now available at Kingston General Hospital for local patients living with sickle cell disease.

The inherited blood disorder causes red blood cells to become misshapen, which can trigger severe pain episodes and lead to serious complications throughout the body.

“Sickle cell disease is a multi-organ disorder” said Lanre Tunji-Ajayi, president and CEO of Sickle Cell Awareness Group of Ontario.

“It affects every organ in the body — the lungs, the heart, the kidney, the liver. So you have damage to vital organs of the body and sometimes it will lead to premature death.”

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While the condition is often managed with medication, more severe cases may require a red cell exchange, a specialized procedure now being offered in Kingston.

“Up until recently we haven’t been able to offer that in Kingston, so patients that need that have had to be criti-called out to a hospital that provides it, like Toronto or Ottawa, and even for our chronic patients who need it on a regular basis, we’ve had to send them to Ottawa on a monthly basis,” said Dr. Natasha Satkunam, a hematologist at KGH.

Research into gene therapy as a potential cure is underway, but Dr. Satkunam says the treatment remains early, costly and out of reach for many patients.

“In terms of access and the cost of the treatment it’s quite significant, so it’s not widely available to everyone who has sickle cell disease and sometimes not appropriate for everyone if their disease is mild.”

Until more options become available, advocates like Tunji-Ajayi say education and early awareness remain key, especially for people who may carry the gene without knowing it.

“Sickle cell trait is mostly asymptomatic. People that have one copy of the gene might not know until they have their own child that then comes out with the disease.”

Health officials say the number of cases in Kingston has been increasing in recent years as demographics in the region change.

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