U.S. researchers have discovered that people with sickle cell disease are in more severe pain on a daily basis than originally thought.

The study published in the January 15 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine was based on analyzing the diaries of 232 Virginia patients, where they noted how much pain they experienced on daily basis as well as how many times they went to the emergency rooms or other care locations to deal with the pain. The patients noted the symptoms for a six-month period.

More than 50 percent of all participants reported that they had experienced pain on most days; nearly one third of them said they had experienced pain almost daily.

“The major finding of our study was that pain in sickle cell disease is a daily phenomenon and that patients are at home mostly struggling with their pain rather than coming into the hospital or emergency department,” study leader, Wally R. Smith, chairman of the Division of Quality Health Care in the Department of Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, said in a prepared statement.

People with sickle cell disease were believed to not suffer so severe pain, because they only measured the pain based on how many times people went to the emergency room or sought other medical care.

Sickle cell disease is a red blood cell disorder, which is hereditary. Sickle cell disease affects one in every 400 U.S. blacks and is common among residents of West and Central Africa. Blood cell of those with the disease become hard, pointed, and can cause anemia, pain and other problems, such as blocking blood flow to the limbs and organs.

Patients with sickle cell disease can experience rapid, severe, short term (acute) or long-lasting (chronic) pain. The acute episodes of pain are called “crises.” The only treatment for this disease approved by the FDA is the drug Hydroxyurea. There are also other medications, which can help with symptoms and complications. Bone marrow transplantations can also help the patient.

“I believe that this study could change the way people view the pain of the disease. It is a chronic pain syndrome. And the study results have implications for medical care, and research. We need more drugs to prevent the underlying processes that cause pain in this disease. And we need better treatments to reduce the chronic pain and suffering that these patients go through,” said Dr. Smith.