One strategy, represented by hydroxyurea, methylurea, and butyrate, is to stimulate increased production of fetal hemoglobin. A second strategy, represented by 5-azacytidine, is to reduce the rate of red blood cell formation in the bone marrow in the hopes that this will reduce the amount of sickle-cell hemoglobin in circulation. A third strategy is to regulate the physiological properties of red blood cells, as exemplified by the use of clotrimazole to reduce water loss from inside the cell.