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Hemophilia Research Paper

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Hemophilia also known as the royal disease originated in England in the 19th and 20th century, It is a sex-linked disease that is carried in the X chromosome and, therefore; has a much higher frequency in males. This genetic disorder prevents blood from clotting causing the afflicted individual to bleed out. When someone has hemophilia their blood has complications clotting thus clotting factors are either decreased in quantity, absent, or improperly formed. Even one inactive clotting factor can cause an individual affected with the disease to lose great amounts of blood. (J. Wilson, 592)
Normal mechanisms for blood clotting involve interactions between injured blood vessels, platelets, and over 20 different proteins that circulate the blood. …show more content…

Hemophilia A, the most common, involves decrease factor VIII protein, an essential blood clotting protein also known as anti-hemophilic factor. There are three levels of factor VIII protein deficiency, severe, moderate, and mild. Hemophilia A has three levels of classified based on the percentage activity of the normal factor VIII protein. Having less than 1% of the normal factor VIII activity have severe hemophilia. Half of the individuals with hemophilia fall into this category. These individuals afflicted with type A Hemophilia experience spontaneous bleeding, most frequently into their joints, skin, and muscles. Individuals with this Hemophilia are very fragile and surgical procedures or trauma can lead to severe hemorrhage and can be life threatening if not treated. Individuals with 1-5% normal VIII protein have moderate hemophilia and can be at risk of heavy bleeding after minor traumatic injury. If an individual affected with Hemophilia A have 5-40% normal factor VIII then they have mild hemophilia and they have to be careful with any surgery or dental procedure. Hemophilia B is similar to Hemophilia A, but instead of having deficient factor VIII protein an individual plagued with Hemophilia B have a deficient factor IX protein a serine proteases of the coagulation system (R. Jenkin, 41). Hemophilia C, the rarest Hemophilia, is more mild than the other two hemophilia’s and involves factor XL or plasma …show more content…

It is much more frequent in men than women because men have only one X-chromosome and women have two and because the disease is sex-linked recessive a woman needs two defective X- chromosomes while a man only needs one. This makes women carriers when they are heterozygous for the disease. This is true for type A and B Hemophilia, but type C works a little differently. Unlike A and B Hemophilia which is sex linked type C is autosomal which involves the factor XL a proenzyme, one of the enzymes that forms blood clots. This type of hemophilia, however, is codominant and having a heterozygous genotype can result in an afflicted individual with increased bleeding. (J. Lusher,

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