Sickle cell anemia has many symptoms, which include

  • Fever
  • Unexplained episodes of severe pain
  • Swelling of the hands or feet
  • Abdominal swelling
  • Pale skin or nail beds
  • Yellow tint to skin or whites of eyes
  • Signs or symptoms of a stroke
  • Delayed growth
  • Frequent infections
  • Anemia

Additionally, it can give rise to many complications, including

  • Strokes
  • Pneumonia
  • Acute Chest Syndrome (blocked blood flow in lungs)
  • Pulmonary Hypertension (high blood pressure in lungs)
  • Blindness
  • Skin ulcers on legs
  • Organ damage
  • Gallstones

These lists were taken from the CDC and the Mayo Clinic.

Many of these complications arise from the fact that sickle cells tend to get stuck in blood vessels, blocking blood flow. If this occurs in the lungs, Acute chest syndrome or pulmonary hypertension may occur. If this occurs in the eyes, blindness can ensue. Organ damage often happens when such a blockage occurs inside a vital organ. Gallstones occur because sickle cells live only around 10 days, whereas normal cells live around 120 days. Because of the increased amount of dead blood cells, increased bilirubin is produced (bilirubin is produced when a red blood cell dies). Increased bilirubin can cause gallstones, so consequently, gallstones often form. This chart, from creationbc.org, explains how sickle cell can cause these conditions: