The success of their efforts supported the concept of prophylaxis, which remains the treatment of choice today. Lysine analogues were also available to treat mucosal bleeding and for use during dental extractions. Such innovations allowed home treatment of hemophilia patients, improved their quality of life, and increased their life expectancy from 11 years in 1931 to 60 years in 1980. Among other inherited bleeding disorders, the most common one is vWD, which was first described in 1926. Although vWD is estimated to affect one to three percent of the United States population, it is often overlooked or underdiagnosed in women with bruisability, heavy menstrual flow, or postpartum bleeding.
Treatment varies with the type of vWD and clinical condition.
For the 10 to 15 percent of vWD patients who are moderately to severely affected, infusion of virally inactivated plasma products that contain vWF may be required. In the early 1980s, use of large donor pools to prepare factor concentrates and lack of specific tests for infectious agents led to frequent infection by blood-borne viruses. About 90 percent of persons with severe hemophilia were infected with HIV-1 by 1985. Approximately half of all persons with hemophilia contracted HIV during the 1980s. The AIDS crisis spurred development of better tests for blood-borne infectious agents which led to purer material that was free of viral contamination.