What’s New for Girls
and Women with Bleeding Disorders
Great Lakes Hemophilia Foundation
Headline
News - November 2010
Mary Anne Schall,
Regional Coordinator / Interim
Executive Director
Historically,
women with bleeding disorders have
been an overlooked community, but
happily of late, women’s issues are
garnering the attention and
resources they deserve. Several new
treatment options for women with
bleeding disorders just recently
entered the market place, and a
brand new women’s campaign is being
rolled out at the National
Hemophilia Foundation (NHF)
Conference in New Orleans.
New Drugs
Two new medications that have the
potential to improve the quality of
life in women with bleeding
disorders are now available in the
United States. They are Lysteda,
used to treat heavy menstrual
bleeding common in women with von
Willebrand disease (VWD), and Wilate,
used to treat bleeds in various
types of VWD.
Lysteda is an oral, long-acting
formulation of tranexamic acid.
Tranexamic acid, which prevents the
breakdown of clots by stabilizing
the protein fibrin, is widely used
in other parts of the world for the
treatment of heavy periods.
However, prior to the approval of
Lysteda, tranexamic acid was
available in the US only in
injectable form for use in bleeding
related to tooth extraction.
Happily, Lysteda is now available
in a convenient tablet form for
treatment of heavy menstrual
bleeding.
Wilate is a new von Willebrand
factor/factor VIII concentrate for
the treatment of bleeding episodes
in people with type 3 VWD or in
individuals with types 1 and 2 VWD
for whom desmopressin is not
effective. Wilate joins Humate P
and Alphanate as an option for
individuals with VWD who need to
infuse.
Victory for Women with Blood
Disorders
NHF
recently announced its
new women’s health and
bleeding disorder
initiative – Victory for
Women with Blood
Disorders. Victory for
Women will provide
education, advocacy, and
support for women with
bleeding disorders and
seek to raise awareness
among women yet to be
diagnosed. Based on the
needs assessment
conducted earlier in the
year, the strategic
agenda for this new
program will focus on:
Women ages 18-25,
Mothers of 13-18 year
old daughters, and
Professionals working in
health and education.
Stay tuned and check the
NHF website
www.hemophilia.org
for details about future
Victory for Women
resources and
programming.
Applications for
educational scholarships
for women with bleeding
disorders will be
available on the NHF
website in February,
2011.
The material provided in Headline
News is for your general information
only. GLHF does not give medical
advice or engage in the practice of
medicine. GLHF under no
circumstances recommends particular
treatment for specific individuals,
and in all cases recommends that you
consult your physician or treatment
center before pursuing any course of
treatment.
