Sickle Cell Disease: Cause
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Cause
Sickle cell disease is an inherited disorder. More specifically, sickle cell disease is an autosomal recessive disease. This means that to have the disease, you must inherit a gene for the disease from both parents.
- Normally, a person inherits two genes that tell the body to produce normal hemoglobin A. One gene comes from each parent.
- People who inherit one defective hemoglobin S gene and one normal hemoglobin A gene have sickle cell trait. These people don't have symptoms of sickle cell disease, nor do their bodies make sickled blood cells. However, they can pass the defective hemoglobin S gene to their children.
- Sickle cell disease occurs when a person inherits one defective hemoglobin S gene from each parent.
- Similar sickle cell disorders occur when a person inherits a hemoglobin S gene from one parent and another type of defective hemoglobin gene from the other parent. Sickle cell disease is a sickle cell disorder.
For more information, see autosomal recessive disease and an illustration 
of this risk.
| Last updated: | January 19, 2007 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Debby Golonka, MPH |
| Reviewed By: | Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine, Martin Steinberg, MD - Hematology |
| Editors: | Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman, MATC |
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