
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 28, 1993                   TAG: 9304280187
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

EXPERTS ADVISE TESTING INFANTS FOR SICKLE CELL

A panel of medical experts recommended Tuesday that all newborns be screened for sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder.

The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, a federally sponsored committee of physicians, scientists and patient representatives, issued new clinical guidelines that said early screening and medical treatment can significantly reduce the rate of illness and death caused by sickle cell disease.

Testing for the disease is common for babies of African ancestry, but Dr. Jeanne Smith, a Columbia University professor and co-chairwoman of the committee, said that a screening program limited to one racial group will not identify many children with the disorder.

In sickle cell disease, red blood cells change from a normal disc shape to a crescent, or sickle, shape. This leads to the death of cells and damage to body tissue.

In addition to those of African descent, sickle cell disease occurs in people with ancestors from the Caribbean, South and Central America, Turkey, Greece, the Middle East and India.

by CNB