Carmani Boozer fights sickle cell disease

October 29, 2008 by Aubrey01

(+4 rating, 2 votes)

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“E:60″ talks with Carlos and CeCe Boozer about their fight against sickle cell anemia. Carmani Boozer has now been disease free for the past year after treatment.

Sickle-cell disease or sickle-cell anaemia (or anemia) is a blood disorder characterized by red blood cells that assume an abnormal, rigid, sickle shape. Sickling decreases the cells’ flexibility and results in their restricted movement through blood vessels, depriving downstream tissues of oxygen. The disease is chronic and lifelong: individuals are most often well, but their lives are punctuated by periodic painful attacks and a risk of various other complications. Life expectancy is shortened, with older studies reporting an average life expectancy of 42 and 48 years for males and females, respectively.

This has been Boozer’s plight ever since May 31, 2006, when Carmani was born with sickle cell disease, an inherited disorder that affects more than 70,000 people in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Boozer is among more than 2 million people who carry the gene that allows them to pass it on their children. The disease creates abnormal blood cells that can clog blood flow through small blood vessels. It causes pain, blood clots and other serious problems, including death.

The condition was detected while Carmani was in the womb. Boozer and CeCe, who have been together since they met nine years ago at Duke, elected to try a risky new treatment that involved a bone marrow transplant and in vitro fertilization