I recently visited the small town of Arcadia, Florida, which is not far from my home. Arcadia holds an important place in history for the topic of hemophilia and AIDS. The story of what happened there is a lesson about how ignorance can fuel hatred and knowledge…

For most of my 56 years, I’ve felt isolated from the hemophilia community. Before the internet — yes, youngsters, there was such a time — I had very little education about my bleeding disorders and no idea what to expect. I felt no sense of community. Hemophilia didn’t run in…

There was a time when I couldn’t make plans because hemophilia was the center of my life. Vacations were dreams, family outings were few and far between, and the mundane happenings of everyday life were nonexistent. There was no sense of complacency. Every waking moment was consumed with the…

Diabetes, which causes blood sugar levels to rise too high, is less likely to develop in young men with hemophilia than in the general male population, a U.S. study found. However, the risk of diabetes rose in older patients and in those who tested positive for hepatitis C (HCV),…

Hemophilia B patients living in urban mainland China have longer hospitalizations and significantly higher medical costs — including more expensive fees for coagulation factors concentrates — compared with patients with hemophilia A, a retrospective study shows. In fact, people with hemophilia B had inpatient medical costs more than…

The vast majority of women who have a bleeding disorder or are hemophilia carriers experience noticeable symptoms, such as bruising or heavy periods, a study based on survey results reported. These women also often mentioned encountering healthcare professionals who were dismissive or lacking in empathy. “Many of the experiences…

Instead of Powerball, I have won the rare bleeding disorder lottery. I have von Willebrand disease and hemophilia B, a less common form of hemophilia that arises when a blood-clotting protein called factor IX is missing or deficient. My diagnoses are rare within a rare community. I often feel like a…

My Facebook friends fall into a few categories: biological family, colleagues and friends from my music and teaching days, high school and college friends and teachers, and my “bleedin’ folk” family. Raising two sons with severe hemophilia is a blessing because of the people in my life (I work…

I recently attended a webinar called “Impact of Factor 8 on Bone Mineralization,” sponsored by Factor My Way, a patient support program. It featured Claudio Sandoval, MD, who has over 30 years of experience treating people with bleeding disorders and is passionate about bone health, an often overlooked aspect of…

Well over 70% of children with severe hemophilia born in a region of Italy in the last 20 years were to women without a family history of the disease, data from a registry analysis show. “Our data highlight the importance of genetic counselling, especially in families with apparently sporadic haemophilia cases,…