No one likes shots.
We are talking needle shots. And no one likes hereditary angioedema attacks. So it’s no secret that people having an HAE attack don’t want to give themselves a shot. Makes sense right?
But this kind of shot, a self-administered injection that’s effective for most patients described in a study featured on Karger, is totally worth it.
Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare, autosomal disease that affects about one in 50,000 people. HAE attacks are often unpredictable and symptoms can be severe— swelling the face, lips, tongue, or extremities without a moment’s notice.
By far the most dangerous hereditary angioedema attack is laryngeal because it can close the airways and prevent a person from breathing!
With that said, treatment is important. But many people get freaked out at the idea of giving themselves an injection, but there are five very good reasons the study shows to encourage you to suck it up and do it:
1. Most attacks were sufficiently treated with a single injection—whether it was a moderate, severe, or a very severe attack
2. Data shows that the majority of patients actually prefer self-injecting, compared to having a health care professional inject for them
3. It has substantial economic benefits—in terms of direct healthcare costs and indirect savings
4. The amount of time to administer is significantly decreased—it’s a much quicker process to inject yourself than the time it takes to get to the doctor’s office and have them inject for you. Early treatment reduces the attack duration, and that’s something everybody wants, yeah?
5. This kind of treatment is accepted and embraced by patients for the above reasons. Seriously.
Additionally, it won’t kill ya to self-inject. Scary, yes. But after a couple of times, and when you start seeing results, you’ll be glad you did.
To get the low-down on the full study of the self-injectable HAE treatment, head on over to Karger.
To all my needle haters! Pass this story along to the hereditary angioedema community to show everyone needles are a lot less scary when you are in charge of the sticking!
