SSA Advantage Social Security Disability Specialists

Sickle Cell Disease, commonly abbreviated as SCD, is actually a group of inherited blood disorders that affect red blood cells. Red blood cells, also known as erythrocytes, carry oxygen throughout the body. Since their healthy functioning is based on quick movement, they are usually rounded so that they can move through the body with ease. When a person is afflicted with SCD, not only do the the red blood cells change shape from a round to a “c” shape, but they also harden and become sticky. Obviously this would affect how the cells move through the body. The resulting clogging is accompanied by severe pain and other serious complications.  On top of all this, red blood cells with SCD also tend to die early, leaving the person with the disease in constant need of new blood cells.

 According to the Center for Disease Control, it is important to remember the following about SCD:

 - It is inherited. SCD is not communicable and you cannot contract it from being around someone who has it.

- SCD affects nearly 100,000 people in America alone, mainly African Americans.

- Although the disease mostly affects those of African ancestry, it can also affect people from Latin America, the Middle East, India, and the Mediterranean. 

 As mentioned above, besides severe pain, there are a number of serious health complications that SCD can cause. Listed below are just a few of them:

 - People with SCD are more likely to suffer from infections in the form of flu, meningitis, and hepatitis. 

- Hand-Foot Syndromes due to swelling caused by blocked blood flow to and from the hands and feet.

- SCD can cause long-term damage to the eyes.

- People with SCD suffer from a higher rate of Strokes, due to a lack of blood flow to the brain. A stroke can lead to lifelong disabilities and learning problems. 

 The Diagnosis of SCD is done at an early age, usually at birth, and can even be done before birth. It’s very important that anyone at risk get tested as early as possible in order for treatments to begin without delay.

 Since SCD is a group of disease, with varied causes, there is no one single treatment that’s prescribed. Each treatment is different and decided by a physician on an individual basis. Treatments for people with SCD usually begin at around five months of age.

 The only known cure for SCD is a bone marrow/stem-cell transplant. These transplants tend to be incredibly risky and can even occasionally end in death.

Dealing with pain during the course of your day can be challenging. And as everyone who has lived with chronic pain knows, the experience is only magnified at night. The exhaustion alone that it is responsible for, due to a lack of sleep, can cause the pain to be almost unbearable. But if all of this applies to you, you aren’t alone. According to the National Sleep Foundation, nearly two thirds of people suffering from chronic pain also have trouble sleeping.

According to WebMD, there are a variety of ways in which chronic pain can disturb sleep:

1. Sleep Architecture – Every night you go through four to six cycles of sleep, including the deep sleep known as REM sleep. Without this deep sleep, there’s an overemphasis on the lighter stages of sleep, which can accentuate pain

2. Sleep Position – Certain types of pain, such as arthritis, can cause problems staying asleep (known as maintenance insomnia) as opposed to falling asleep.

3. Sensitivity to Pain – It’s not yet known why, but sleeplessness makes people more sensitive to pain.

4. Pain Meds – As if the pain itself weren’t bad, sometimes the medications taken to combat chronic pain can also cause sleeplessness.

5. Weight Gain – Chronic pain can make exercise difficult. Weight gained due to a lack of physical activity could be responsible for causing sleep apnea.

Of course there are techniques for managing the pain. Tracey Marks, MD, an Atlanta-based psychiatrist and author of the book Master Your Sleep: Proven Methods Simplified, recommends as little as 10 minutes of quiet meditation a day. Different types of meditation such as tai chi, yoga, and guided meditation among others, all serve to help train your mind to ignore pain. “Use deep breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, or focus on an object or scene,” Marks says.

Massage is another method that can be used when exploring ways to improve sleep with chronic pain. According to the International Journal of Neuroscience, two 30 minute massage sessions per week can vastly improve sleep performance. Of course it must be kept in mind that any vigorous activity, even light exercise such as yoga and swimming, which also improve sleep while combating pain, should all be conducted at least three hours before bed. Otherwise, you may end up being counterproductive and keep yourself awake.

Some of the other various methods to get a good nights rest include warm baths, foregoing naps during the day, relaxing sounds, and abstention from alcohol before bed. But the bottom line still is that if pain is preventing you from sleeping, you need to discuss your condition with your doctor. There are a number of treatments that might be available to you, but the safeness and effectiveness of each vary on a case by case basis.