About Hydroxyurea for Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle cell disease is a painful condition that affects the shape of your blood cells and the ability of those cells to carry oxygen. One of the treatments being used to help people suffering from sickle cell is a drug called hydroxyurea, which is a drug that is also used for people undergoing chemotherapy.

Identification

• Sickle cell disease is a condition that affects how the body is able to carry oxygen to different parts of the body in the blood stream. Normally, oxygen is carried through the body on material in the blood known as hemoglobin A. People with sickle cell disease can only produce hemoglobin S, which is an S-shaped cell that resembles a sickle. The body disposes of hemoglobin S cells faster than it does hemoglobin A cells; this faster reduction in oxygen-carrying cells results in a lack of oxygen in the vital parts of the body. Hydroxyurea is a medication normally used in the process of chemotherapy that can also be used to treat the painful attacks caused by sickle cell disease.

Significance

• Sickle cell disease has two extremely painful symptoms; one is a painful episode called a vaso-occlusive occurrence that can happen anywhere in the body at any time; the other is chest pains known as acute chest syndrome. A study done by Harvard University demonstrated that hydroxyurea was effective at limiting instances of both these types of attacks; in some cases, by as much as half.

Function

• Hydroxyurea is effective as a treatment for sickle cell disease because it promotes the creation of fetal hemoglobin, which helps to prevent the creation of sickle-shaped S-cells. People suffering from sickle cell disease sometimes retain the ability to create fetal hemoglobin, even though it normally ceases to be produced after birth. The earlier in life that hydroxyurea treatments are started, the more likely the body is to respond to the treatments. Response to treatment with hydroxyurea varies from patient to patient.

Warning

• One of the effects hydroxyurea has is to reduce the count of white blood cells and platelets in the blood. This can increase the possibility of infection for the patient, so it is recommended that any regiment of hydroxyurea be carefully monitored by a doctor.

Effects

• Hydroxyurea does not cure sickle cell disease; it only reduces the number of painful attacks the patient experiences. Some of the potential side-effects of a hydroxyurea treatment are severe stomach cramps, an unexplained red facial rash and hair loss.