Did you know that hemophilia is inherited from the mother and is common among males? Although females are deemed carriers, they are unlikely to acquire it. It even goes hand in hand with the deadly HIV/AIDS.
Hemophilia is a rare disease characterized by lack of protein that stops the bleeding at the site of an injury. This results to continuous bleeding and susceptibility to internal bleeding.
Through the years, doctors have been in the search for hemophilia treatment. Here are the three tested and proven treatments for this very rare disease:
Replacement Therapy
Hemophilia treatment comes in different types depending on the severity of the disease. The most common of these is the replacement therapy. This treatment begins by injecting clotting concentrates into the veins to replace the missing or low clotting factor.
This kind of hemophilia treatment involves the use of clotting factor concentrates from where else, but the human blood.
If you can’t tolerate it, you may opt to take these concentrates from sources that do not use human blood known as recombinant clotting factors. These may be stored and mixed at home.
If the replacement therapy is done regularly to prevent the bleeding, this kind of hemophilia treatment is called prophylactic therapy.
However, if the same is administered on as-needed basis, such hemophilia treatment is called demand therapy. The latter is less expensive but it poses a risk that bleeding will bring about damage before the therapy is given.
Replacement therapy as a form of hemophilia treatment may result to complications. The clotting factor may be destroyed by antibodies before it can work. Researchers and doctors are doing their best efforts to prevent such occurrence from happening.
Another risk that this hemophilia treatment may cause is for the clotting factors to carry viruses responsible for hepatitis and AIDS. However, because of careful screening of blood donors and careful testing thereof, the incidence has been reduced.
Likewise, due to the advent of technology, the donated blood is effectively tested before transfusion. In fact, during the last decade, no such incident has been recorded. Children going through this kind of hemophilia treatment are prone to bleeding, pressure, pain and swelling around the joint.
Desmopressin
Another type of hemophilia treatment is the use of desmopressin. This is a man-made hormone given by injection or nasal spray.
The medicine works to increase or replenish the level of protein in the blood. However, this kind of hemophilia treatment can only be used in certain situations such as before a tooth extraction.
Gene Therapy
Researchers are exploring into the possibility of gene therapy to be developed as a kind of hemophilia treatment. This involves correcting the faulty and defective genes that cause the disease.
Although gene therapy is not yet acknowledged as a kind of hemophilia treatment, researchers are doing their best efforts through clinical therapies. Hopefully this novel breakthrough will become successful in the future.
There is a lot of hemophilia treatment available and you can ask your doctors the kind of treatment your child needs. However, regardless of the severity, you have an obligation towards your child – to be cognizant on the different signs of bleeding.
It is important to get quick treatment whenever bleeding occurs because this will minimize the damage.
