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>> Resa Caivano, MD: - Hello, I'm Dr. Resa Caivano.
I am one of the members of the sickle cell team
here at Kaiser Permanente in the Inglewood office building.
>> Rebecca Deans, MD: - Hello, my name is Dr. Rebecca Deans.
I'm one of the physicians here at
the Inglewood medical offices of Kaiser Permanente.
>> Resa Caivano, MD: - According to the Center for Disease Control,
sickle cell disease is considered a rare condition,
as it affects 100,000 people nationwide.
With sickle cell disease, you get
a bending of the red blood cells.
Whereas healthy red blood cells move freely
around small blood vessels and deliver oxygen to the organs,
sickle cells get stuck in those small blood vessels
and can cause repeat episodes, known as crises,
which can lead to damage to organs,
infection, and potentially even stroke.
>> Rebecca Deans, MD: - That's a good question.
Well, the majority of the people
with sickle cell disease in the United States are
of African American descent, so 90%.
That's one in 500 births in the African American population
will have sickle cell disease.
However, it doesn't just affect
people who are African American.
It affects our Hispanic population,
it affects those of Middle Eastern descent,
that are of Indian descent,
Mediterranean, so it's a disease
that we all should be aware of,
because it could affect someone
in our family or one of our friends.
>> Resa Caivano, MD: - Myth - sickle cell disease is not a contagious disease.
It is a genetically inherited disorder.
Both parents have to have the sickle cell gene
in order for the child to have sickle cell disease.
>> Rebecca Deans, MD: - No, that is not true, that is a myth.
What is true is that there are many things
that are not opiate-based, or narcotic-based,
that a person can do to help relieve their pain
from sickle cell crisis.
They can be as benign as a warm bath,
guided meditation, yoga, stretching, massage, acupuncture.
So there are lots of things that are not narcotic
or opiate-based that the sickle cell patient can use
to alleviate their pain.
So what makes us unique?
Well, we are a Center of Excellence for sickle cell anemia.
We are one of a select few in California,
and I believe we're the only one,
or one of a very select group, in Southern California,
that takes care of both pediatric
and adult patients with sickle cell anemia.
We also have access to infusion therapy
or hydration here at our nursing clinic.
The, one of the original heads of the sickle cell team,
Dr. Manuel Meyers, who has since passed on,
that was his legacy and his dream
to take care of the sickle cell patients, especially here
in Southern California for Kaiser Permanente.
The nursing clinic is actually dedicated to him and was,
the original purpose of that clinic was
to provide infusion care or hydration therapy
for our sickle cell patients.
>> Resa Caivano, MD: - And another important aspect, and I think
that makes us unique, is that we do spend
a lot of time focusing on the psychosocial aspect
of care for our sickle cell patients.
We understand that stress is a major source
of sickle cell crises, and so we spend
a lot of time as a team talking about ways
to decrease those stresses for our patients.
Helping them with job searches, and school,
and helping to identify potential issues,
or potential stressors, that may send them into crisis,
and try to head them off before they happen.
And then I would lastly like to say that I just think that
the fact that Kaiser Permanente has invested
in a population that's traditionally underserved,
and has allowed us to serve this patient population
in the way that we do, is just indicative
of how much we care about our community,
and we care about seeing all Southern Californians thrive.
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