Learning About Sickle Cell: The Patient in Early Sickle Cell Disease Case Reports, 1910-1933

Case reports of sickle cell disease (SCD) from its discovery in 1910 to 1933 provide glimpses into the disease's impact on patients and families. Attending physicians, trying to understand the pathophysiology of and treatments for this newly recognized disease, reported also on the effect of SCD on patients' ability to attend school, play, and work, the kinds and severity of the pain patients endured, the late onset of puberty and slowed development of secondary sex characteristics, and the ways families dealt with loved ones who had the disease. These anonymous patients and families helped “teach” physicians about SCD in the early years after its discovery. The current study uses information gleaned from the third published article in 1915 to 1933.