All bleeding episodes have to be treated promptly by increasing the level of factor 8 or 9 as necessary. Increasing blood factors can be achieved by infusion of commercially available factor concentrates.
Preparations of factor concentrates are made with pooled donor plasma (from many blood donors) or recombinant technology (from genetic manipulation of animal cells to produce human factors). The administration of factors will be done by a medical professional or be taught to people living with haemophilia or their caregivers (ie home treatment) which decreases their dependency on hospital treatment.
The administration of foreign factor 8 or 9 may at times lead to the development of antibodies against these factors and a change in treatment regimens. Non-factor replacement products such as emicizumab are now available with limited accessibility to select group of individuals. Intensive study on gene therapy to correct the abnormal gene in haemophilia directly is currently undertaken in several major centres with the possibility of this being an additional treatment option in the near future.
The haemophilia service at SGH provides a multidisciplinary approach to care for patients living with haemophilia.
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