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Education about hemophilia and how to best manage it can help patients and families understand and manage the illness. Medical staff members evaluate each patient to identify and reduce risk of complications. This may include establishing home treatment programs and working with schools and others to minimize the impact of the illness. Support staff members such as social workers or counselors provide supportive care, health education, employment or insurance assistance, counseling and risk reduction advice.
Prevention focuses on methods to reduce the occurrence of bleeding episodes, especially dangerous head and joint bleeds. An important component of prevention is maintaining physical fitness. Research shows that toned muscles and strong joints result in fewer bleeding episodes and inactivity can lead to frequent spontaneous bleeding. Today, most children with hemophilia can participate in sports and activities with supervision and proper precautions.
Prompt recognition and intervention are essential to minimize the complications of bleeding. Center staff members help patients recognize the early signs of bleeding to facilitate prompt treatment. For many patients, this means learning to administer clotting- factor replacement at home. Increasingly, children with severe hemophilia are being treated with regular preventive factor infusions to keep the risk of bleeding episodes low.
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