Hemophilia - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Hemophilia is not the name of a single disease but many integrated bleeding disorders. This disease is inherited and it involves a large amount of bleeding. This term involves both kinds of hemophilia, including hemophilia A and B. The only difference between them is of the gene mutation. This gene mutation causes bleeding. Since these gene mutations are caused more in X chromosome pattern, this disease is more likely to occur in males and females.

Almost one male birth out of every 5000 suffers from this disease; both the versions of this ailment can happen in all the races. However, the incidence of hemophilia A is more prevalent than hemophilia B. The latter happens in a single male birth out of 20 to thirty four thousand births. Hemophilia has also been given the name of royal ailment because Queen Victoria, the first queen of England suffered from this disease. Then this disease was transferred to the royal families of other countries through her daughters.

It's very rare for a girl to have hemophilia.

The excessive bleeding of this aliment occurs because the clotting becomes defective. Hemophilia can have distinct degrees of severity. These severity levels are caused by the kind of mutation that arises. The most severe form of this ailment involves less than 1% activity of the gene-impairing factor, while 1-5% if characterized as moderate and higher than 5% factor activity includes mild disease. So, this factor determines the kind of bleeding. When a person has severe hemophilia the bleeding starts at a young age and can occur at any time. People who have mild hemophilia can suffer from bleeding due to injury.

This disease is dangerous because once the bleeding starts it can't be stopped due to defective blood clotting. Bleeding can happen in any part of the body and can cause organ damage also. For example, in this ailment bleeding of the joints called Hemarthrosis is more common. This kind of bleeding can be severely injurious because it can result in dislocation of the joint spaces which can cause a lot of pain. The joints are destroyed which makes its necessary to have joint replacement surgeries. Dental procedures can also lead to bleeding. Young children can also have bleeding when they are getting newer teeth. Bleeding can also occur in the gastro intestinal tract, which causes bleeding in the human excreta. Bleeding of the urinary tract is also prevalent which has an impact of blood in the toilet. The worst is when bleeding starts in the brain which can cause nausea, lethargy and vomiting. It can also cause death due to blood hemorrhage.

In the severe cases of hemophilia, bleeding can occur during the first two years of life only. So, men can get bleeding when they have just undergone the process of circumcision. Even high bleeding after a surgery indicates that a person suffers from this disease. The most important cause of hemophilia is genetic mutation.