Blood Disorders Treatment

Our multidisciplinary team of blood disorder specialists have a deep expertise in developing treatment options that produce better patient outcomes and increased quality of life. These groundbreaking therapies have been adopted by other leading hematology programs.

Winship and its team of blood disorder specialists set themselves apart by offering advanced treatment options for more complex blood disorders. Our patients come to us with a range of blood disorders, including:

• Anemia disorders. Cold agglutinin disease, hereditary spherocytosis, autoimmune hemolytic anemia and thalassemia
• Bleeding disorders. Hemophilia, von Willebrand’s disease, platelet function defects and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT)
• Clotting disorders. Thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS)
• Blood cancers. Leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma

Because blood disorders constitute a myriad of conditions, treatment planning is always unique for each patient. Your care team will work together with your primary care physician to develop an individualized treatment plan that best suits your needs.

Here are some of the blood disorder treatments you can expect at Winship:

Clotting Disorders Treatment

Blood clotting disorders can be inherited, sporadic or a side effect of surgery or long periods of not moving. Blood clotting disorder treatment almost always includes anticoagulant therapy. These medicines help your body prevent new clots from forming. Anticoagulants are sometimes administered after major surgery to reduce the risk of blood clots.

Thalassemia Treatment

Thalassemia, a specific type of anemia, is a disorder in which the red blood cells produced by your body lack the amount of hemoglobin necessary to properly deliver oxygen throughout the body. This leads to symptoms such as fatigue, headache, irregular heartbeat, leg cramps and dizziness, to name a few.

Treatment depends on how severe your thalassemia is. If a patient has thalassemia minor, a regular folic acid supplement, which helps boost red blood cell development, might suffice. If a patient has a more severe form of thalassemia, regular blood transfusions or surgery to remove the spleen may be needed.

Bleeding Disorders Treatment

Winship treats bleeding disorders with compassionate care and excellence. Types of bleeding disorders include:

• Hemophilia. A bleeding disorder, most often inherited, in which the blood fails to clot
• Von Willebrand’s disease. A genetic blood clotting disorder that results in deficient or defective von Willebrand Factor. Von Willebrand factor is necessary for the body’s initial response to blood vessel injury.

People with bleeding disorders are often unaware of their condition until they reach adulthood, are preparing for elective surgery or are pregnant. Doctors may uncover abnormal clotting during pre-surgical assessments. If this occurs, an appointment with a hematologist is critical prior to any surgery or delivery of a baby. Prescribing medicines to help with bleeding episodes or to boost blood platelet counts are common treatments. These medicines may include:

• Antifibrinolytic agents, such as tranexamic acid, treat bleeding after childbirth or as the result of such minor medical procedures as dental work.
• Birth control pills are used to treat heavy menstrual bleeding.
• Desmopressin (DDAVP) is a human-made hormone that treats patients with minor bleeding.
• Immunosuppressive medicines, including steroids, interrupt the production of antibodies. These are used to treat acquired bleeding disorders.

For more severe bleeding, doctors may recommend factor replacement therapy, in which clotting factors — made in a lab or from donated blood — are given to patients to help their blood clot. These therapies can include:

• Bypassing medicines. These medicines treat antibodies and add other types of clotting factors to help your blood clot. One possible side effect of this treatment is an increased risk of clotting.
• Clotting factor concentrates. This treatment replaces the missing clotting factor for people with inherited bleeding disorders as well as antibody-related bleeding disorders. A side effect of this treatment is that it can raise the risk of antibodies forming in the blood.
• Emicizumab. A bispecific antibody that can mimic the action of missing antihemophilic factor.

When it comes to bleeding disorders, Winship offers a lifespan program, meaning you’ll receive comprehensive, individualized treatment and symptom management throughout various stages of your life.

Sickle cell disease represents a group of inherited blood cell disorders. With sickle cell disease, red blood cells are sticky and abnormally shaped (shaped like a crescent, or the letter c). This causes red blood cells to die off, resulting in a low red blood cell count. These abnormally shaped cells have a tendency to get stuck in smaller blood vessels, limiting the flow of blood through the body, leading to pain and serious problems like infection and stroke.

Located at Grady Memorial Hospital, the Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at Grady is the primary care clinic for patients with sickle cell syndromes. It offers coordinated and comprehensive care through a dedicated multidisciplinary team.

The Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center also works closely with the Sickle Cell Program at Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center to support smooth transitions from pediatric to adult care.

If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with sickle cell disease, please contact the mentioned center. Our colleagues are ready to assist you.

As Georgia’s only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Winship also specializes in comprehensive cancer care for cancers of the blood, such as leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

Treatment for these various blood cancers may include a number of therapies, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy and blood and bone marrow transplant.

In addition to these blood disorder treatment guidelines, participation in clinical trials may be an option. Clinical trials provide patients with access to new medications that are being developed to treat blood disorders and blood cancers. As Georgia’s only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Winship offers patients the latest clinical trials to treat blood cancer.

At Winship, each patient is carefully considered to see whether they qualify for a clinical trial using innovative treatment methods. Learn more about our clinical trials.

Besides the blood disorder treatment options, Winship also offers a supportive oncology team of specialized doctors and nurses who can help with the physical, psychological and emotional aspects of living with cancer, including symptom management and counseling. We know that a blood disorder diagnosis can be scary and stressful. That’s why Winship’s counselors, nurse navigators, dietitians and social service professionals are with you every step of the way.