Poor blood clotting: who faces hemophilia
The causes of blood clotting disorders are numerous, including hereditary diseases. One such serious disease is hemophilia (from the Latin heme – blood, philosophy – to love). Women are carriers of the disease, and men suffer from hemophilia. Today, April 17, physicians and community activists from various countries join the action of World Hemophilia Day: let us and we learn more about this disease and the causes of bleeding disorders.
Hemophilia or victorian disease
Serious problems with blood clotting often occur in members of royal families. Thus, the youngest son of Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, Leopold (Duke of Albany) suffered from hemophilia. Thanks to the royal ladies, the disease was named Victorian or royal disease. However, not only royal persons are sick with hemophilia: in Ukraine, according to medical statistics, there are currently about 2500 thousand hemophilia patients, among them 667 children.
Hemophilia is a hereditary disease: the disease is inherited through the female line, and the hereditary form of the disease is mainly men. Although cases of hemophilia in girls have been described. In such cases, the father was ill, and the mother was the carrier. The disease is dangerous if severe bleeding occurs with injury or surgery (hemophilia A). There is also a type of hemophilia B, and in type C, the disease also occurs in women.
Symptoms of hemophilia: how to distinguish from low blood clotting
The main symptom of hemophilia, hematologists call hemorrhages in the tissue, internal organs, joints. They occur spontaneously with injuries, even the lightest. The disease manifests itself after 6 months of the child’s life or in the second year of life. Sometimes the disease can occur later, and sometimes – from the birth of the baby. If the parents of the child notice that the baby has a long cut (more than 10-15 minutes) of a cut or abrasion from falling, then the case is most likely in a bleeding disorder, which can cause a number of factors.
This may be a deficiency of vitamin K, weak immunity, liver problems, fluid intake in large quantities, taking a number of medicines. These factors can affect the rate of blood clotting in adults. In hemophilia, bleeding after injury (with no assistance) may last for a day or more, as well as hemorrhages in the joints, tissue and hematomas (bruises in the blood) on the body, hemophilia can often cause nosebleeds, bleeding gums, blood in the feces and urine
Can hemophilia be eliminated or cured?
In the diagnosis of hemophilia, the patient is forced to receive appropriate therapy throughout his life (there are government programs for treating patients with hemophilia), following the instructions of the doctor. If the disease is ignored, then the person will face disability and early death. Therefore, when hemorrhages and hemorrhages are detected on the body and joints of the child for no apparent reason, frequent nosebleeds, etc. It is necessary to consult a doctor – initially a pediatrician, then a hematologist, genetics.
Prophylactic measures for hemophilia include compulsory medical genetic counseling for couples planning a pregnancy in order to identify the carrier state of hemophilia. With an already existing pregnancy in the event of a threat to hemophilia in a child, the doctor may suggest a biopsy of the chorion (outer membrane of the embryo) with further DNA testing of the material obtained or amniocentesis – sampling of amniotic fluid. In the case of early diagnosis of hemophilia in the fetus and the medical staff, and parents will have time to take measures to reduce the impact of the disease on the health of the baby.
