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.
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"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.