Final answer:
Patients with HbSC do experience a milder form of sickle cell anemia compared to those with HbSS because of their less frequent sickling of red blood cells. This is true even though they still face health challenges and do not benefit from carrying the sickle cell gene in areas where malaria is not endemic.
Step-by-step explanation:
True, patients with HbSC have milder disease severity than HbSS patients. Individuals with HbSC have one mutant gene for hemoglobin S and one for hemoglobin C. This combination of hemoglobins gives rise to red blood cells that are less prone to sickling compared to the cells of individuals with HbSS, where both genes code for the sickle hemoglobin. In the latter, all hemoglobin is abnormal, leading to more frequent and severe symptoms due to the higher rate of red blood cell sickling and the associated complications with oxygen delivery.
The sickle cell gene affects million people worldwide. In parts of Africa, individuals with one mutated hemoglobin gene (sickle cell trait) are protected from malaria, thus providing a health benefit in those regions. Patients with HbSC also benefit from this protective effect against malaria, though it's less pronounced than with HbAS (sickle cell trait). However, outside regions where malaria is prevalent, such as the United States, no health benefits are observed from having the sickle cell mutation.