The cell has an unusual shape

Sickle cell can lead to reduced blood flow to the brain, causing stroke and damage to areas involved in skills such as memory and speech.

This can mean the children go on to develop learning difficulties.

But doctors from the Institute of Child Health say they can identify problems earlier and intervene to help them.

Currently the learning problems associated with Sickle Cell Disease are often diagnosed only when the child has reached adolescence Professor Faraneh Vargha-Khadem, Institute of Child Health

Sickle Cell Disease, named after the distinctive shape of the cells, mainly affects people of Afro-Caribbean and Asian.

Around 6,000 people in the UK are thought to have the condition which affects blood cells and causes them to stick together which means blood cannot circulate properly.

Development tests

Researchers from the Institute of Child Health looked at 29 babies, 15 of whom had sickle cell disease. The rest of the babies were healthy.

They were all were given tests including brain imaging, measurement of their brain waves, blood flow to the brain, and levels of oxygen in the blood.

The babies were examined at three, nine and 12 months of age.

It was found that there was a significant increase in the number of babies classed as being at high risk of developmental delays between the three-month and nine-month testing.

There was no similar increase among the healthy children.

Professor Faraneh Vargha-Khadem of the Institute of Child Health, who led the research, said: "At present there is no cure for Sickle Cell Disease.

"Our aim is to identify cognitive problems early on, and to intervene if the child is considered to be at risk of developing learning difficulties.

"By intervening early in the educational process we hope to remedy the learning difficulties before they become deeply rooted."

'Devastating disease'

She added: "Currently the learning problems associated with Sickle Cell Disease are often diagnosed only when the child has reached adolescence.

"By this time the difficulties have become instilled and have caused psychological damage as well.

"This has a bad effect on these young people so it is really important that effective methods of therapy are introduced early on to help the most vulnerable."

Simon Moore, Chief Executive of Action Medical Research said: "This is a really devastating disease that affects both these young people and their families.