Severe, moderate, and mild: These are the degrees with which a person with hemophilia is labeled based on the percentage of clotting factor in their blood. With the word “severe,” one might automatically think it is the worst kind of hemophilia. This level means that a person has less…

I am in a video game. My mission: Fight the medical bureaucracy and access care. I must complete three levels and capture the golden key, which unlocks a fortress where healthcare is obtained. I’m stuck on Level 2. No matter what I try, I can’t gather the tools to unlock…

In the 1970s and ’80s, treating my von Willebrand disease and hemophilia B often involved a regimen that included fresh frozen plasma, platelets, and cryoprecipitate. Cryoprecipitate, a blood component derived from frozen plasma, contains vital clotting factors such as fibrinogen, factor VIII, von Willebrand factor, and factor…

When you live with a bleeding disorder, you get used to explaining yourself. You learn to walk into an emergency room ready with a treatment letter and a mental script of your medical history. You learn to minimize pain, explain bruises, fight for treatment, and reassure medical professionals that, yes,…

When my sons were little, there were always mountains of laundry. How could such a tiny human go through so many onesies? There were dozens of little socks to be matched, stains to be treated, and hundreds of pieces of clothing to be folded. It was never-ending. There were weeks…

Discovering your child has hemophilia can be devastating. While you will certainly need to make some lifestyle changes moving forward, with the correct treatment and preventative measures, there’s no reason why your child can’t live a happy and healthy life. To help you come to terms with life with hemophilia and…

Several things often happen when a woman becomes a mother. The switch of motherly intuition flips on, and many moms can make predictions without reason. (That “gut” instinct usually serves us well.) The overwhelming love for our newborn baby is a connection that ignites and lasts a lifetime. This…

Treatment of severe hemophilia A with Eloctate and hemophilia B with Alprolix was safe and improved the patients’ annualized bleed rates (ABRs) over four years, according to the results of two extension studies announced by Bioverativ and Sobi. The two open-label extension studies — ASPIRE (NCT01454739), and B-YOND (NCT01425723) — evaluated…

Considerable progress has been made over the last 50 years in treating and caring for people with hemophilia but more is needed, according a large-scale analysis of men with this disease in the U.S. The report concluded that continued surveillance to monitor and inform hemophilia interventions and patient outcomes is essential,…

Discovering your child has hemophilia can be devastating. While you will certainly need to make some lifestyle changes moving forward, with the correct treatment and preventative measures, there’s no reason why your child can’t live a happy and healthy life. To help you come to terms with life with hemophilia and…