Hemophilia can result in:
Bleeding within joints
that can lead to chronic joint disease and pain. Bleeding in the head and sometimes in the brain which can cause long term problems, such as seizures and paralysis. Death can occur if the bleeding cannot be stopped or if it occurs in a vital organ such as the brain.
What tissues and organs are affected by hemophilia?
People who have severe hemophilia often have internal bleeding that causes pain. Bleeding for no known reason is typical, especially in the joints of the hand, shoulder, hip, knee, ankle or elbow.
Arm and leg muscles
are often affected too. Bleeding in the brain, throat or abdomen is especially dangerous.
What is hemophilia and who does it typically affect?
Hemophilia is a rare condition in which the blood does not clot properly. It
mostly affects men
. Proteins called clotting factors work with platelets to stop bleeding at the site of an injury. People with hemophilia produce lower amounts of either Factor VIII or Factor IX than those without the condition.
What is affected by hemophilia?
Hemophilia A mostly affects males but females can also be affected. Approximately 1 in 5,000 newborn males have hemophilia A. Approximately 60% of individuals with hemophilia A have a severe form of the disorder.
All racial and ethnic groups
are equally affected by hemophilia.
What blood cell does hemophilia affect?
Platelets
are small blood cells that form in your bone marrow. According to the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH), about one in 10,000 people are born with this disease. People with hemophilia bleed easily, and the blood takes a longer time to clot.
Can hemophilia be cured?
There is currently no cure for hemophilia
. Effective treatments do exist, but they are expensive and involve lifelong injections several times per week to prevent bleeding.
What foods to avoid if you have hemophilia?
- large glasses of juice.
- soft drinks, energy drinks, and sweetened tea.
- heavy gravies and sauces.
- butter, shortening, or lard.
- full-fat dairy products.
- candy.
- foods containing trans fats, including fried. foods and baked goods (pastries, pizza, pie, cookies, and crackers)
Why females are not affected by haemophilia?
“Growing up, we understood that men had hemophilia and women were “carriers.” Women passed along the X-linked gene, but did not actually get hemophilia
because (it was believed) that the “good X chromosome” compensated for the X chromosome that carried hemophilia
.
How long is the average lifespan of a person with hemophilia?
During this period, it exceeded mortality in the general population by a factor of 2.69 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.37-3.05), and median life expectancy in severe hemophilia was
63 years
.
Does hemophilia get worse with age?
Many of the complications of hemophilia, including intracranial hemorrhage, joint disease, and inhibitor development,
increase with increasing age
.
What race is most affected by hemophilia?
The average age of persons with hemophilia in the United States is 23.5 years. Compared to the distribution of race and ethnicity in the U.S. population,
white race is more common
, Hispanic ethnicity is equally common, while black race and Asian ancestry are less common among persons with hemophilia.
At what age is hemophilia diagnosed?
In the United States, most people with hemophilia are diagnosed at a very young age. Based on CDC data, the median age at diagnosis is
36 months for people with mild hemophilia
, 8 months for those with moderate hemophilia, and 1 month for those with severe hemophilia.
Who is more likely to get hemophilia?
The two major forms of hemophilia occur much more commonly in
males
than in females. Hemophilia A is the most common type of the condition; 1 in 4,000 to 1 in 5,000 males worldwide are born with this disorder. Hemophilia B occurs in approximately 1 in 20,000 newborn males worldwide.
How do doctors diagnose hemophilia?
Diagnosis includes
screening tests and clotting factor tests
. Screening tests are blood tests that show if the blood is clotting properly. Clotting factor tests, also called factor assays, are required to diagnose a bleeding disorder. This blood test shows the type of hemophilia and the severity.
Why is hemophilia B called Christmas disease?
Hemophilia B occurs when clotting factor IX is either absent or not present in sufficient amounts. Hemophilia B is also known as Christmas disease. It is
named after the first person to be diagnosed with the disorder in 1952, Stephen Christmas
.
Does hemophilia make you tired?
Living with a bleeding disorder can present many more challenges. A bleeding disorder
can cause pain, make you tired
, and sometimes gets in the way of your daily life.
