Hemophilia

Esther Dooin Park

Ms. Yeatman

English 7

30 January 2014

Hemophilia

        The disease hemophilia is when the blood is not able to clot as well, will not clot at all, or the clotting factors are abnormally formed. The danger in this is that hemophiliacs can hemorrhage to death. It is estimated that there are 20,000 people living in America with hemophilia. All of the research done on this disease has one goal; to improve the care of those suffering from hemophilia.

        There are many signs that could diagnose this disease. A hemophiliac might feel joint and muscle pain. When internally bleeding in the joints, bleeding especially takes place in the knees and elbows. When bleeding takes place in the muscles it most often occurs in the calf, thigh, and forearm. Hemophiliacs might even develop very large bruises or experience bleeding from the gums, mouth, or nose. Blood can also be found in the urine or stool when the kidney and bladder as well as the intestines and stomach are involved. Another symptom of hemophilia includes unexpected nose bleedings. In addition to this, the nose begins to have heavy bleeding that starts and stops and resumes after a short time, this happens because the blood will not clot. The hemophiliacs may experience sudden weakness, clumsiness in arms and legs, trouble walking, double vision, and convulsions if bleeding in the brain occurs. Permanent brain damage can occur when a delicate brain tissue is compromised by pressure from the bleeding.  

To clarify that the signs and symptoms are correct, doctors diagnose a patient to officially know one has hemophilia. Therefore, the doctor completes a full physical exam. The exam includes the patient’s medical history and if they have hemophilia from a gene. With this intention, the doctor creates a blood test. This test shows how long the blood can clot, tells if the blood has low levels of any clotting, whether any clotting factors are missing, and to know how severe the disease is.  Hemophilia is into different categories; mild, moderate, and severe. Mild hemophilia is five to thirty percent of normal clotting factor, moderate hemophilia is one to five percent of normal clotting factor, and severe hemophilia is less than one percent of normal clotting factor.

There are several treatments for the disease hemophilia. Researchers are now using clinical trials for a gene replacement therapy for hemophilia A, also named as hemophilia VIII. The results are positive, but these therapies are constantly being checked for safety long term. The replacement therapy is when a concentration of clotting factor VIII or IX is slowly dripped or injected into a vein. HIV infections of most hemophiliacs in the 1980s forced the development of an alternate factor VIII source for replacement therapies. These infusions help replace the clotting factor that is missing or low. Additionally, an inhibitor can be injected to give the blood the ability to clot. Blood transfusions are another way to treat hemophiliacs. A blood transfusion is when blood is from an intravenous or IV line is transferred to one’s body. In the transfusion, plasma, a yellowish fluid that makes the blood, is contained in the blood that is present. When having hemophilia, hemophiliacs should never have any medication or drugs that promote bleeding, such as aspirin.