How does sickle cell trait affect athletes?
While sickle cell trait is not a barrier to playing competitive sports, athletes with sickle cell trait have experienced significant physical distress, including collapse and death during intense exercise.
Can you play sports with sickle cell trait?
Although youngsters with sickle cell disease may participate in sports for fun, they are unlikely to play competitive sports like basketball or football because they need to avoid sports that involve overexertion, overheating, dehydration, or chilling—these conditions could set off a life-threatening crisis.
Can sickle cell trait turn into a disease when exercising?
Although sickle cell trait will not turn into the disease, it is possible to have clinical symptoms when exercising under extreme conditions of physical exertion and/or low oxygen levels.
Can a child with sickle cell play sports?
Kids and teens with sickle cell disease may not be able to play contact sports or participate in strenuous exercise — check with their parents. Otherwise, encourage them to participate in moderate physical exercise and other school activities.
Should athletes be tested for sickle cell?
ATHLETES MUST SHOW PROOF OF SICKLE CELL TESTING The NCAA recommendation follows the latest guidelines from the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) and the College of American Pathologists (CAPS). Both the NATA and CAPS recommend screening for the Sickle Cell Trait if a student-athlete’s status in not known.
How does sickle cell trait affect the body?
Complications include muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis), reduced blood supply to the spleen (ischemia/infarction), or increased pressure in the eye (glaucoma) following eye injuries. Finally, a very rare form of kidney cancer (renal medullary carcinoma) has been associated with sickle cell trait.
What can predispose an athlete with sickle cell trait to a crisis?
Heat, dehydration, altitude, and asthma can increase the risk for and worsen sickling, even when exercise is not all-out. Despite telltale features, collapse from exertional sickling in athletes is under-recognized and often misdiagnosed.
Does sickle cell trait affect breathing?
People with sickle cell anemia can develop high blood pressure in their lungs. This complication usually affects adults. Shortness of breath and fatigue are common symptoms of this condition, which can be fatal.
Why do college athletes need sickle cell test?
If you’re a college athlete who’s talented enough to play a Division I sport, the NCAA requires that you get a blood test to see if you have sickle cell trait. People with sickle cell trait carry one copy of a gene that can lead to an abnormal type of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying molecule in red blood cells.
What is the benefit of sickle cell trait?
The sickle cell trait provides a survival advantage against malaria fatality over people with normal hemoglobin in regions where malaria is endemic. The trait is known to cause significantly fewer deaths due to malaria, especially when Plasmodium falciparum is the causative organism.
How serious is sickle cell trait?
Sickle cell trait is NOT a disease and will never turn into a disease. People with sickle cell trait usually do not have any health problems. However, under extreme conditions a person with sickle cell trait can experience some of the same problems as a person who has sickle cell disease.
Does sickle cell trait make you tired?
Fatigue is a common symptom associated with sickle cell disease. Due to the smaller size of our red blood cells, we cannot carry as much oxygen as those with healthier red blood cells. This leads to a lack of oxygen in our bodies and, ultimately, fatigue.