ABOUT HEMOPHILIA

Q: What is Hemophilia?
A:
Hemophilia is an inherited and lifelong bleeding disorder. 

Blood contains many proteins, called clotting factors, which work to stop bleeding. People with hemophilia have a low level or absence of one of these clotting factors in their blood.

The lack of clotting factor causes people with hemophilia to bleed for longer periods of time than people whose blood factor levels are normal. 

People with hemophilia do not bleed faster than other people, and will not bleed to death from a minor cut or injury. The main problem for people with hemophilia is bleeding internally, mainly into muscles and joints.

Types of Hemophilia
1. Hemophilia A (Classical hemophilia) - caused by a deficiency of factor VIII
2. Hemophilia B (Christmas disease) - caused by a deficiency of factor IX

* All information for FAQ is taken from the World Federation of Hemophilia
Q: How does a person get hemophilia?
A: Hemophilia is a genetic disorder that cannot be caught or transmitted except through inheritance.  

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.

The genes for hemophilia A and B are on the X chromosome. Men have an X and a Y chromosome and women have two X chromosomes. Since men have only one X chromosome, if they inherit the hemophilia gene, they will have hemophilia. Because women have two X chromosomes, if one X chromosome has the hemophilia gene, the other X chromosome makes up for it.

Women who have the hemophilia gene are called carriers, and they can pass it on to their children. When the mother is a carrier and the father is normal, 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.
Q: Does Hemophilia only affect men?
A: The most severe forms of hemophilia affect almost only males. Females can be seriously affected only if the father has hemophilia and the mother is a carrier. This is extremely rare. However, many women who are carriers have symptoms of mild hemophilia.

Q: How serious is Hemophilia?
A:

The severity of hemophilia is determined by the level of clotting activity of factor VIII or factor IX in the blood. There are three levels of severity: mild, moderate, and severe. The following table shows the range of factor VIII and factor IX activity:

Level

Percentage of normal factor activity in blood

Number of international units (IU) per millilitre (ml) of whole blood

normal range

50%-150% 

0.501.5 IU

mild hemophilia

5%-40% 

0.050.40 IU

moderate hemophilia

1%-5% 

0.010.05 IU

severe hemophilia

less than 1%

less than 0.01 IU

People with severe hemophilia usually bleed frequently into their muscles or joints. They may bleed one to two times per week. Bleeding is often spontaneous, which means the bleeding just happens with no obvious cause.

People with moderate hemophilia bleed less frequently, usually after an injury, perhaps once a month. Cases of hemophilia vary, however, and a person with moderate hemophilia can bleed spontaneously.

People with mild hemophilia usually bleed only as a result of surgery or major injury. They may never have a bleeding problem.