Sickle cell disease (SCD) describes a family of molecular disorders in which patients inherit the hemoglobin S (HbS) mutation in one beta-globin gene and a second beta-globin mutation in the other beta-globin gene that impairs normal hemoglobin production and causes clinical sickling of red blood cells. People with SCD have a dramatically increased risk of pain, lung disease, renal failure, bone necrosis, sepsis, stroke, and early death. Preventative care and early recognition of sickle cell-related complications are critical to improve the quality of life for patients living with this disease.