Hemophilia

Haemophilia, also known as hemophilia, was first discovered in the

ancient times by the Jews. The Talmud, Jewish writings, stated that if two
male babies had died from minor bleeding already, male babies afterwards
do not have to be circumcised. In the tenth century, an Arab Physician,
Albucasis, wrote about a family who died from a minor injury. Dr. John Conrad
Otto discovered that hemophilia was hereditary and affected males.
Although there were several accounts of hemophilia, the name hemophilia,
which came from Greek, first appeared in 1828 by Hopff. Hemophilia was
made a royal disorder when Queen Victoria of England had a son who has
hemophilia. That jeopardizes the whole royal bloodline and the prince
diagnosed with hemophilia was kept a secret.
Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder that slows blood clotting process.
People with hemophilia can experience bleeding following an injury, or even
having a tooth pulled out. Hemophilia can cause serious bleeding into the
joints, muscles, brains, or other internal organs. There are two main types of
hemophilia, hemophilia A and hemophilia B. Hemophilia A Is cause by a
change in the F8 gene while hemophilia B is caused by a change in the F9
gene. Both genes are responsible for creating coagulation factors, which are
proteins that work together in the blood clotting process. Hemophilia A and
hemophilia B are recessive sex-linked disorders, meaning they are passed
through the sex chromosome, X. However, since hemophilia is a sex-linked
trait and males only have one X chromosome, males are more likely to
inherit hemophilia. Females can be either have hemophilia or be a carrier,
someone who carries a gene for a disorder.
Symptoms for hemophilia may vary depending on the level of clotting.
However, a person who has sudden pain and excessive bleeding from an
injury, definitely have hemophilia. Unknown nosebleeds or spontaneous
bleeding is definitely a sign of hemophilia. Because hemophilia is a disorder
that slows blood clotting, and forms of intense bleeding from minor injuries is
a sign that hemophilia might be present. There a multiple signs of
hemophilia which include pain, swelling in joints, and unusual bleeding after
vaccinations, painful headache, neck pain, and double vision. Hemophilia can
cause damage to joints, the internal bleeding can put pressure on joints
causing pain. Moreover, Bleeding internally can cause limbs to swell causing
possibly numbness or pain. Likewise, People with hemophilia tend to get

blood transfusions increasing their risk of receiving contaminated blood

products.
Usually, someone diagnosed with hemophilia lives a normal life. The
life expectancy of someone with hemophilia varies depending on the kind of
treatments; nevertheless, someone with hemophilia will have a life
expectancy 10 years less than someone without hemophilia. Hemophilia can
affect the entire family as well as the person who has it. A person diagnosed
with hemophilia can affect the whole generations following. If someone from
the family has hemophilia, it could only mean that their mom was a carrier
which puts the family in danger of other members having hemophilia. That
will put the following generations in danger too. One person in a family that
has hemophilia can change the course of a whole family.
In the 1950s and 1960s, hemophiliacs were treated with fresh blood:
nonetheless, there are not enough clotting factors to stop serious bleedings.
People with severe hemophilia died, mostly from bleeding in vital organs, in
childhood or early adulthood. Later in the 1960s and 1970s, clotting factors
were beginning to be available. Concentrates are freeze-dried and can be
kept at home and used when needed. Today, there are therapies that stop
bleeding and ongoing treatments for severe hemophilia. Therapies for
bleeding episodes are based on the type of hemophilia. Person with mild
hemophilia A can have a slow injection of the hormone desmopressin
(DDAVP) which will simulate a release of clotting factors to stop bleeding.
For someone with a moderate or severe hemophilia A or hemophilia B,
bleeding may stop with an infusion of recombinant clotting factor or clotting
factor from donated human blood. Some examples of ongoing treatments
are clot-preserving medications (antifibrinolytics), fibrin sealants, and regular
infusions of DDAVP or clotting factor. Clot-preserving medications help
prevent clots from breaking down. Fibrin sealants are medications applied
directly to wounded areas to promote clotting and healing. Physical therapy
is another option. It can ease signs and symptoms if bleeding has damaged
the joints.
The CDC is currently researching hemophilia. Their goals are to
implement prevention programs to improve quality of life. Likewise, they
conduct research to learn more about the bleeding disorders and factor for
complications, design interventions that will help prevent complications,
deliver health promotion messages to help people make decision about their
health and to identify new treatments and hopefully a cure for hemophilia.
The CDC studies inhibitor, an antibody that people with hemophilia develop

that could increase risk of joint disease. This could lead to a better
understanding of the causes of the inhibitor and help to prevent them.
Queen Victorias youngest son, Leopold, was a hemophiliac. Neither her
dad nor her mom had hemophilia or was a carrier. Prince Leopold is the only
kid in the royal family to have hemophilia. Alice and Beatrice was carriers
and their descendants had hemophilia. However, hemophilia was not present
in the early ancestors therefore led to a mystery for everyone. It was said
that the hemophilia in the royal family came from spontaneous mutations.
Spontaneous mutations are about 30% of all hemophilia cases. Although the
royal bloodline of hemophilia is unknown, Charlotte Zeepvat came up with a
theory that there were unrecognized hemophiliacs in the ancestors of Queen
Victorias mother. This hemophilia that infected the royal family will forever
remain a mystery.

Citations:
"The History of Hemophilia." - Canadian Hemophilia Society. N.p., n.d.
Web. 04 Feb. 2015.
"Hemophilia." Genetics Home Reference. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2015.
"Hemophilia." Symptoms. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2015.
"Hemophilia." Complications. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2015.
"National Haemophilia Council." What Is the Life Expectancy of
Someone with Haemophilia? N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2015.
"The History of Hemophilia." - Canadian Hemophilia Society. N.p., n.d.
Web. 04 Feb. 2015.
"Hemophilia." Treatments and Drugs. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2015.

 "Why We Do Research on Hemophilia." Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 09 May 2013.
Web. 09 Feb. 2015.
"Royal Hemophilia Carriers." Unofficial Royalty. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb.
2015.