David Ajibade* and OS Michael
Background: There is growing recognition of the benefits of nutraceuticals in the management of sickle cell disease but a scarcity of reports on their use. Nutraceuticals are food or parts of food that provide medical or health benefits. They include botanicals, functional foods and medicinal foods. This is a preliminary report on the use of nutraceuticals in the management of a small cohort of children with sickle cell disease in Nigeria.
Methods: Children, aged 1 to 12 years, presenting with sickle cell anemia were evaluated at baseline and at six month after the commencement of a cocktail of nutraceuticals using an objective grading tool. Changes in weight, hematocrit and frequency of sickle cell crises were determined.
Results: Ten children with sickle cell anemia were placed on nutraceuticals therapy. The average age of the children was 7.4 (range 2-12) years. Aroga immune support was the commonest component of the neutraceutical cocktail given to the children. There was a rise in mean weight (from 21.8 ± 8.9 to 23.0 ± 8.3) and hematocrit (from 22.8 ± 3.9 to 27.2 ± 3.9) at six months compared to values obtained at baseline. There was also a fall in the mean frequency of sickle cell crises at six months compared to values obtained at baseline (from 7.4 ± 6.1 to 3.2 ± 2.8). Overall, eight out of the ten children showed moderate to good clinical improvement. There was no documentation of any adverse reaction to the medications in any of the children.
Conclusion: The results suggest that the use of nutraceuticals may be beneficial in the management of sickle cell anemia in children. However, there is a need for controlled clinical trials for stronger evidence. Such clinical trials of unconventional therapies should be conducted with great care and concern for the safety of the participants.
English 
Spanish 
Russian 
German 
French 
Japanese 
Portuguese 
Hindi