Does premarital screening treat sickle cell disease?

Sickle Cell Disease is an inherited blood disorder caused by changes affecting haemoglobin. Premarital screening uses blood testing to look for relevant haemoglobin patterns and may identify someone who carries an inherited change without having the disease. The result is about health status and possible inheritance; it cannot remove the condition or reverse an inherited change. If a result is positive or unclear, confirmatory testing and genetic counselling can explain what it means for each partner and for future children.

Take both partners’ reports to the clinician or screening service that issued them. Ask whether either result indicates a carrier state, a disease state, or a need for confirmation. A counsellor can discuss reproductive choices respectfully and confidentially. If someone already has symptoms or a diagnosis, they need condition-specific medical care, not screening as a substitute. Keep copies of results for future consultations.

Arrange timely specialist advice after a result suggesting Sickle Cell Disease or an inherited haemoglobin change, particularly before making reproductive decisions. Seek urgent care for severe pain, difficulty breathing, fever, marked weakness, confusion, or sudden vision changes in someone known to have the disease. Screening itself is not an emergency treatment.

What exactly does each result show, and is confirmatory testing needed? Could either of us be a carrier? Which counselling service can explain inheritance and reproductive options? If one partner has Sickle Cell Disease, what ongoing care is recommended?