This means that this person has enough normal hemoglobin in their red blood cells to keep the cells flexible and they don't have the symptoms of the sickle cell disorders. However, these individuals are always at a high risk for complications, when participating in activities where oxygen levels are below normal; activities like, mountain climbing and skiing at high altitudes, scuba diving, and being placed under general anesthetics.
If both copies of the hemoglobin gene carry instructions to make sickle hemoglobin then this will be the only type of hemoglobin they can make and sickle cells can occur. These people have Sickle Cell Anemia and can suffer from anemia and severe pain; commonly called Crises.
People with sickle cell disorder need regular medical attention particularly before and after operations, dental extraction and during pregnancy. When a person is found to have a sickle cell disorder, it is important that all members of the family be tested. There are three common types of sickle cell disease in the United States: (1) Hemoglobin SS or sickle cell anemia, (2) Hemoglobin SC disease, (3) Hemoglobin sickle beta-thalassemia. Each of these can cause sickle pain episodes and complications, but some are more common than others.
Readily available blood tests such as hemoglobin electrophoresis can identify people who have either sickle cell trait or a form of the disease, as well as a number of other less common inherited hemoglobin abnormalities. There also are prenatal tests to determine whether the baby will have sickle cell disease, carry the trait or be unaffected. If both parents have the sickle cell trait, in three out of four cases, the prenatal test will reveal that the fetus will not have sickle cell disease. Having the Sickle cell disorder can have a dramatic affect on how one lives. Because of the potential life threaten effects sickle cell can have, the person should contact their physician to address questions concerning schooling, strenuous exercise, family planning, suitable types of employment and air travel.