G Shellye Horowitz, a hemophilia patient advocate, explains why asking how a treatment works in your body and requesting pharmacokinetic testing can help ensure therapies meet individual needs.
Transcript
I think there are a lot of questions that we need to ask when starting treatment.
But one thing that I wish I had asked more often — now I know to ask it — and I wish other individuals, particularly those with mild hemophilia and mild bleeding disorders, would ask is, “How is this product going to work in my body?”
And specifically requesting what’s known as a pharmacokinetic study, which is a study that actually measures what the product does in your body. And it is so important because we don’t always act as predicted.
For me in particular, I have found that oftentimes my body clears the product faster than expected. So if I don’t ask for the test, I don’t know that. And then the treatment isn’t actually meeting my needs.
