Study challenges view that sickle cell trait increases mortality risk

Surprising findings from a study of health records of thousands of African-American soldiers show that a common genetic condition poses far less risk than previously thought. Health experts have long believed that sickle cell gene variants, which occur in about 1 in 13 African-Americans, increase the risk of premature death, even when people carry only a single copy of the variant. But health records of nearly 50,000 active-duty U.S. Army soldiers between 2011 and 2014 shows that’s not the case, according to a study led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.