There is a thing called periodic episodes of pain, called crises and they are a major symptom of sickle cell anemia. Pain tends to develop when sickle<span>-shaped red blood </span>cells<span> block the blood flow through little tiny blood vessels which go to your chest, abdomen and your joints. Also, sadly, pain can occur.</span>
Sickle cell anemia is caused by a mutation on the eleventh chromosome. It replaces one amino acid with another. This swap of amino acids changes the structure of the red blood cell from a disk shape to a sickle, or curved, shape. The sickle-shaped red blood cells are less able to carry oxygen throughout the body. When organs do not receive oxygen from red blood cells, severe pain occurs.
