Hemophilia

General Information on Hemophilia

Hemophilia is a blood-clotting disorder. Normally, when there is a bleed the body will clot the bleed to stop it through a process of changing the liquid into a solid forming a scab. There are two types of hemophilia. The type is dependent on which factor there is a deficiency in the blood clotting process. The first type of hemophilia is hemophilia A. In hemophilia A the deficiency is in factor VIII. This is the most common form of hemophilia affecting about eighty percent of the cases. The second type of hemophilia is hemophilia B. In hemophilia B the deficiency is the factor IX. Both hemophilia types A and B cause prolonged bleeding due to the difficulty to clot. There are several different gene abnormalities that cause hemophilia. All of these abnormalities are inherited through the mother and the vast majority of the cases are male. The severity of these gene abnormalities determines how severe the symptoms are. Hemophilia severity is measured by clotting ability; mild being around five to twenty-five percent, moderate being around one to five percent, and severe being less than one percent. Mild and moderate hemophilia may go unnoticed, but in moderate hemophilia there may be excessive uncontrollable bleeding after surgeries. If there is recurring episodes of bleeding into the joints and muscles, deformities that can cause crippling may occur.

Symptoms of Hemophilia

Some of the symptoms of hemophilia may be:

Bleeding longer than normal after a cut
Uncontrolled bleeding
Bruising easily
Unexplained bleeding or bruising
Blood in the urine or stool
Tightness in the joints

Some of the more severe symptoms of hemophilia may be:

Bleeding from an injury excessively
Painful and lasting headaches
Vomiting
Fatigue
Double vision
Neck pain
Sudden pain, swelling, and warmth of the joints

Treatments For Hemophilia

The treatment for hemophilia is sometimes transfusions. The goal in these transfusions is to replace the clotting factor that there is a deficiency in. How often these transfusions occur depends on the severity and the site of the bleeding problem. In some instances, antibodies are developed for the transfused clotting factors. This makes the factor replacement useless. As a result, as soon as antibodies are detected, either the amount of the clotting factor replacements within the transfusions is increased or different types of clotting factors or drugs will be used in the transfusions. In general, people with hemophilia should avoid different situations in which bleed may occur. This can include things like avoiding playing sports, not taking certain medications that can affect the function of the platelets, and even making sure that dental hygiene is taken care of so that tooth extractions and other forms of dental surgery can be avoided. Hemophilia is a life-long disease and has no cure, but with proper care and treatment an active and accomplished lifestyle can be maintained.

Personal Experience

Hemophilia - personal experiences