To have the sickle cell disease, a person must inherit the gene from both parents. If you have only one gene, you have sickle cell trait, but will not get sickle cell disease.
The people shown to be at greatest risk are people with the following ancestry:
- African
- Spanish
- Mediterranean
- Middle Eastern
- Indian*
In the United States, it most commonly affects blacks and Hispanics.
* [Editor's Note: the article did not specify American Indian or sub-continent Indian.]
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