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What is Hemophilia?

What is hemophilia?
· Hemophilia is a bleeding problem. People with hemophilia do not bleed any faster than normal, but they can bleed for a longer time. Their blood does not have enough clotting factor. Clotting factor is a protein in blood that controls bleeding.
· Hemophilia is quite rare. About 1 in 10,000 people are born with it.
· The most common type of hemophilia is called hemophilia A. This means the person does not have enough clotting factor VIII (8). A less common type is called hemophilia B. This person does not have enough clotting factor IX (9). The result is the same for hemophilia Aand B; that is, they bleed for a longer time than normal.

How do people get hemophilia?
· People are born with hemophilia. They cannot catch it from someone, like a cold.
· Hemophilia is usually inherited, meaning that it is passed on through a parent’s genes. Genes carry messages about the way the body’s cells will develop as a baby grows into an adult. They determine a person’s hair and eye colour, for example.
· Sometimes hemophilia can occur when there is no family history of it. This is called sporadic hemophilia. About 30% of people with hemophilia did not get it through their parent’s genes. It was caused by a change in the person’s own genes.

How is hemophilia inherited?
· When the father has hemophilia but the mother does not, none of the sons will have hemophilia. All of the daughters will carry the hemophilia gene.
· Women who have the hemophilia gene are called carriers. They sometimes show signs of hemophilia, and they can pass it on to their children. For each child, there is a 50% chance that a son will have hemophilia and a 50% chance that a daughter will carry the gene.
· Women can only have hemophilia if their father has hemophilia and their mother is a carrier. This is very uncommon.

There are three levels of severity.
The severity describes how serious the problem is. The level of severity depends on the amount of clotting factor that is missing from a person’s blood

 

 

 

 

What are the signs of hemophilia?

The signs of hemophilia A and B are the same.
• Big bruises;
• Bleeding into muscles and joints, especially the knees, elbows, and ankles;
• Spontaneous bleeding (sudden bleeding inside the body for no clear reason);
• Bleeding for a long time after getting a cut, removing a tooth, or having surgery; and
• Bleeding for a long time after an accident, especially after an injury to the head.

Bleeding into a joint or muscle causes:
• An ache or “funny feeling”;
• Swelling;
• Pain and stiffness; and
• Difficulty using a joint or muscle.

Where does bleeding occur most often?
• People with hemophilia can bleed inside or outside the body.
• If bleeding occurs many times into the same joint, the joint can become damaged and painful.
• Repeated bleeding can cause other health problems like arthritis. This can make it difficult to walk or do simple activities. However, the joints of the hands are not usually affected in hemophilia (unlike some kinds of arthritis).