About this research study:

Johns Hopkins researchers are conducting a research study that examines whether changes in sleep would alter feelings of pain in adults with Sickle Cell Disease.

Many adults living with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) report that they experience chronic pain that contribute to disability and a need for constant assistance from medical professionals. As many as 70% of adults with SCD experience various sleep disturbances. Pain and sleep are interrelated, such that pain disturbs sleep and disturbed sleep amplifies pain and increases the risk of developing chronic pain. This study is looking for people with SCD that have a variety of symptoms, including sleep and pain.

Our research program will discover the effects of sleep on pain sensitivity. Since treatment options are limited for individuals living with SCD, a new treatment of improving sleep may provide an effective, non-pharmaceutical approach to improving multiple pain-related outcomes.