Most nosebleeds are distracting but quickly go away. Imagine having a nosebleed every day of your life. One doctor is experimenting with a spray to stop the bleeding.
If it has an engine and four wheels, Jack Sardisco is sold. Since his youth, he's been dealing with chronic nosebleeds.
"I'm talking about full-sized bath towels, six or seven bath towels full of blood," said Sardisco.
He inherited a disease called HHT. His blood vessels don't work properly.
"I was on the ground on the floor of the bathroom, like that close from passing out," he said.
Laser treatments don't last.
"We didn't have a treatment. All we had was something to put a band-aid on it," said Dr. Terence Davidson, Director of UCSD Nasal Dysfunction Clinic.
Davidson is trying a cancer drug in low doses to stop the bleeding. The drug stops new blood vessel growth.
"All of a sudden, I was getting complete control for two years," said Sardisco.
In a study, Davidson used Avastin on 10 patients. Injections, which require surgery and anesthesia, controlled bleeding for up to two years. A nose-spray form worked for four months. In three years, more than 50 patients have been helped with no side effects.
"Never in my life have I been able to treat people from a nosebleed a day, and now all of a sudden, that's routine," said Davidson.
Sardisco comes in for the spray every couple of months. He's had one nosebleed in seven months - one of his best years yet.
"I'm really hopeful that I can live my life, a normal life," said Sardisco.
Because this is still considered clinical research, patients cannot get a prescription for the nose spray to use at home.
The nosebleeds caused by HHT sometime respond to home remedies. Patients can try humidifiers or use ointments on the lining of the nose.
