In its 50 years of existence, the Hemophilia Treatment Center of Central Pennsylvania at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has led a major breakthrough in the treatment of hemophilia, enrolled 1,154 patients with inherited bleeding disorders, and provided care to patients from birth to death. The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center established the center in March 1973 under the leadership of Dr. M. Elaine Eyster.
In 1965, Dr. Judy Pool, a physiologist, developed a method for separating the antihemophilic factor, or factor VIII, which is used for transfusion to correct the bleeding defect in hemophilia, from blood plasma. She was then able to create a cold-insoluble protein fraction of whole blood plasma. This concentrate could be refrozen and stored up to a year, allowing hemophiliacs to be treated more easily than ever before.
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