Hemophilia

Hemophilia

Severe bleeding. That's what happens when a person has Hemophilia. "More than 25,000 people in the United States have Hemophilia" (Description of Hemophilia 1). "Hemophilia is an inherited deficiency of a blood-clotting factor that results in episodes of dangerous bleeding" (Hemophilia 1). As you read through this essay, you will learn more about the disease. Some characteristics should be. First you will learn about the diagnosis and prognosis of Hemophilia. Second you will learn the causes and incidences of Hemophilia. And finally you will learn about the treatments and ways of life for the people with Hemophilia.

First off, I will tell you about the prognosis and the diagnosis of Hemophilia. "One of the ways to diagnose Hemophilia is to check the family history of the patient. If your family had Hemophilia, then you have a greater chance of having it, then somebody that doesn't have it in their heredity line" (Hemophilia 1). Another way to diagnose it is to run tests on the blood. "One of the screening tests is used to check for primary hemostasis. This test would come back normal if the platelet count, and bleeding time were normal. The second test would check the secondary hemostasis. A normal result would be that there is enough fibrin formed to complete blood clotting. In both tests, negative results would show abnormally low levels of each. Then if they came back negative, the diagnosis would be that they do have Hemophilia" (Description of Hemophilia 1-2). "The prognosis then could be one of the three categories of Hemophilia, they are: mild, moderate, and severe. A person with mild hemophilia may only have problems with bleeding when they have surgery, major dental work, or when they have a severe injury. A person with moderate hemophilia can have the same problems, plus bleeding problems with more minor injuries. A person with severe hemophilia can have what are called spontaneous bleeds. Bleeding that starts inside the body for no reason" (What is Hemophilia 1).

Secondly I will talk about the causes and incidences of hemophilia. The immediate cause of hemophilia is the deficiency of a coagulation factor, used in blood clotting. "Some of the complications of having this disease are: dangerous bleeding episodes, permanent joint damage, and the risk of contracting HIV through a blood transfusion" (Hemophilia 2).