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Hemophilia Essay

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Hemophilia is a problem with the blood in a person that causes them to bleed not any faster than normal, but they often bleed for a longer period. Their blood is missing the clotting factor (a protein in the bloodstream that works to control bleeding). Hemophilia is quite rare; roughly 1 in every 10,000 persons are born with it. Rarely, hemophilia can be an acquired disease which just means a person is not born with it, but will develop it during their lifetime. This rarity occurs when a person's immune system forms antibodies that attack the clotting factor in the blood. The entire antibody population fights against the blood to prevent the clotting factors from working properly.
Hemophilia A, the most occurring form of this disease, …show more content…

Occasionally a baby is born with this disorder and no family history of it. When this happens, it could be caused by a hidden gene, which is when several generations of female carry it, and it has not affected any male members of the family or a spontaneous mutation. With each pregnancy, a woman who is a carrier has a 25% possibility of having a son born with hemophilia. Since the father's X chromosome is what determines if the unborn child will be a girl, all of the daughters born of a man with hemophilia will be carriers. None of his sons, which is determined by the father through his Y chromosome, will have hemophilia. Individuals who suffer from mild hemophilia may choose to use a non-blood product known as Desmopressin acetate (DDAVP) to help treat the small bleeds and/or scrapes. For deep cuts or internal bleeding, the treatment called DDAVP may not be enough and therefore, may need a much more complex treatment. The clotting factor must be replenished so the affected person can form a clot to stop the bleeding. Plasma is one of the ‘human blood products’ than is used for factor replacement. Another factor replacement option is using the recombinant factor, which is produced in a laboratory.
The second most common type of hemophilia is hemophilia B and is also known as factor IX deficiency, or the Christmas disease. It, like Hemophilia A, is an inherited disorder. It appears much less than Hemophilia A and occurs in “approximately 1 in 25,000 male births, and

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