Question 1

what is hemophilia?

Accepted Answer

Clotting problem: Hemophilia is a hereditary blood disorder in which the person is deficient in one of the body's clotting factors (factor viii for hemophilia a and factor ix for hemophilia b).  Therefore the blood does not clot correctly after an injury.  Depending on severity, patients with hemophilia bleed and bruise easily and for a longer time. Some may even bleed into their joints, muscles, or brain.

Question 2

is hemophilia lifelong?

Accepted Answer

Yes: About 17, 000 people in the United States have hemophilia. The blood of a person who has hemophilia, a rare, inherited bleeding disease, lacks a protein important to proper clotting. Because it is inherteted at birth it is lifelong.

Question 3

how is hemophilia spread?

Accepted Answer

Inheritance/genetics: Hemophilia is a disorder of clotting due to abnormal genes that are inherited from the mother by the son.  Daughters are carriers but generally do not suffer from it.  An affected man pass the gene to his daughters but can not pass it to the sone. Daughters pass the disease on to their sons.  Rarely a new mutation, de novo, may occur to cause the disease that is then spread to the offspring.

Question 4

who discovered hemophilia?

Accepted Answer

Conrad Otto: Families in which the males bled after minor trauma were known from antiquity, but Dr. Otto in 1803 established the pattern of inheritance and is credited as discoverer.

Question 5

how do you get hemophilia?

Accepted Answer

Heredity: Hemophilia is a genetic disease that is passed down in families.

Question 6

how common is hemophilia?

Accepted Answer

1:10,000 males: Hemophillia a in about 1:10, 000 males and hemophilia b in about 1:20, 000 males. It is less common in females.

Question 7

how is hemophilia treated?

Accepted Answer

IV Factor 8 infusion: Factor viii is given IV if and when bleeding occurs, also before and after any contemplated surgery.

Question 8

how serious is hemophilia?

Accepted Answer

Very serious: Interferes with blood clotting, so subject can not easily stop bleeding when it occurs. Not just open bleeding, but into joints which when started will only stop when the pressure within the joint equals the blood pressure, so there is severe joint swelling followed by fibrosis (scarring) within the joint. Similarly uncontolled bleeding can occur into the GI tract and/or lungs.

Question 9

can you die from hemophilia?

Accepted Answer

Yes: Hemophilia makes bleeding very difficult to stop. People with hemophilia may not be able to properly stop even minor bleeding, and particularly internal bleeding can be hard to detect until late in the game.

Question 10

how is hemophilia inherited?

Accepted Answer

Hemo."A" is X-linked: Hemophilia "a" is a hereditary bleeding disorder where there is a deficiency in clotting factor viii (factor viii is needed for blood clotting). It is inherited on the x-chromosome (sex-linked). Men only have 1 "x", so if their "x" is mutated, they will have the disease. Women have 2 "x's", so they can have 1 mutated "x" and 1 normal "x", and be a carrier of the disease, with mild or no symptoms.

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