Treatment

While hemophilia cannot be cured, it can be treated and successfully managed. Hemophilia A is treated by increasing the level of factor VIII (FVIII) in the blood. This is done by an infusion (injection) of factor replacement therapy, also called FVIII product.

Initially, infusion is typically done at a hospital or hemophilia treatment center (HTC), but parents usually learn how to infuse their children themselves. Infusing at home is convenient and saves time (which is especially important to minimizing joint damage when joint bleeds occur). Eventually, when children are older, they learn to infuse themselves. (Read Rhonda’s story about learning home infusion.)

Up to 1 in 4 children will develop an inhibitor in response to treatment. If the clotting factor is seen as a foreign invader, the body develops the inhibitor to block the clotting action of the factor. This makes treatment more challenging. One method of treatment for people who develop inhibitors is to gradually increase the body’s tolerance to factor therapy by infusing increasing amounts of factor over time.

There are two kinds of FVIII products: human plasma-derived and recombinant FVIII. Human plasma-derived products are taken directly from donated blood. With recombinant factor, the proteins needed to make FVIII product are not taken from human blood, but synthesized in a laboratory using recombinant DNA technology.

Plasma-derived and some forms of recombinant FVIII contain a protein from human blood called albumin, which is used as a stabilizer. In 2000, sucrose replaced albumin as a stabilizer in the production of the FVIII product Helixate^®. With this change, Helixate^® FS (formulated with sucrose) was born.

Learn more about Helixate^® FS for the treatment of hemophilia A.