Chances are higher you’ll live longer

This disease can lead to strokes, high blood pressure in your lungs, organ damage, leg ulcers, blindness, and gallstones. Sickle cell can also cause acute chest syndrome, a potentially deadly condition that involves chest pain, fever, cough, and a hard time breathing. Men with sickle cell may get long-lasting, painful erections (priapism) or become impotent. Women can have complicated pregnancies.

Sickle cell disease can cause even young children to have a stroke. Toddlers as young as 2 may get a screening for stroke risk with a quick, painless ultrasound test to measure their blood flow. Some children with sickle cell need regular blood transfusions to prevent strokes.

In the U.S., every baby gets a blood test at birth that shows if they have sickle-shaped cells. Older children and adults can get this blood test, too. Doctors can also screen a fetus for the genes that cause sickle cell disease early in pregnancy. They draw out a sample of amniotic fluid from the womb to do the test.

Periodic episodes of pain, called pain crises, are the major and most frequent sickle cell symptom. You may also have anemia, which leaves you very tired. Other symptoms are swollen hands and feet, dark urine, yellow eyes, pale skin or nail beds, a swollen belly, and frequent infections. Stroke symptoms like facial weakness or slurred speech can point to sickle cell, too.

Up to 100,000 Americans have some form of sickle cell. It's more common among some races and ethnicities than others. If you have African ancestry, you're at the highest risk for sickle cell trait. You may also be at risk if your ethnicity is Hispanic, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Asian, or Indian.

Genes passed from parents to children cause it. They affect hemoglobin, a blood protein. Sickle cell anemia, which is severe, happens if you inherit two copies of the sickle cell gene -- one from each parent. Sickle cell trait happens if you have one copy plus one normal gene. That means you're probably healthy, but you could pass the trait to your kids. Getting a sickle cell gene and a different abnormal gene can cause mild to severe disease.

These inherited blood disorders make red blood cells stiff and crescent-shaped, rather than round. Because of that, blood can't flow easily through the blood vessels. This can cause flare-ups of severe pain, and lead to anemia, stroke, organ damage, and heart or liver failure. There's no cure for sickle cell disease. But you can manage the symptoms.

Your risk for a stroke goes up if you have blood type AB. Doctors think that’s because it’s more likely to clot than other types.

Type 2 diabetes seems to happen more often in people with blood types A and B. Experts aren't sure why. More research is needed.

Your blood type can’t predict whether you’ll get pregnant, but it may play a role. In one study, women with low numbers of healthy eggs were more likely to have type O blood than any other type. More research is needed to figure out why.