Hemophilia Today

Children and Hemophilia Today

Hemophilia and Children
National Hemlphilia FoundatationIf your child has been diagnosed with hemophilia, few things you must know about the disease are hemophilia is a lifelong disease, every year around 400 children are born with hemophilia, around 18,000 hemophiliac people lives in United States, Two main types of it discovered until date A and B and around 80 percent of the people suffers from hemophilia A. Hemophilia is a bleeding ailment caused due to inability of blood to make a clot. A hereditary disease that is found at birth and mostly occurs only in males. Generally, blood cells and other substances form a clot and stop the bleeding from your child's. These consist of platelet counts, 13 clotting factors, fibrinogen and vitamin K.
 
Hemophilia is a disorder of sex chromosome and affects mainly chromosome X. The gender of your kid is always determined by your sex chromosomes. Males have a pair of chromosome, XY and while females have a pair of X chromosomes. In case of hemophilia, there will be an impaired gene on the chromosome X. Genes are full of information that tell your body what action to take. Chromosomes are the container in the body, which packs the genes in it. A parent transfers down the impaired gene on the chromosome X to the kid. This can affect with many generations and the entire family knows of the bleeding disorder, that is, hemophilia. For few families, the impaired gene is a new change that they are not inherited from their parents. This is known to have a mutation spontaneously.
 
Detecting Hemophilia in Kids
The physician may question you about the present and past history of your child’s health. He or she will enquire about full details of your child's bleeding episodes, any family history of bleeding disorders. A few samples of  your blood will be taken for various diagnostic tests. He or she will observe for your child's platelet count and 13 clotting factors. Tests will be repeated frequently since the clotting factors levels may change over time to time.
 
Bleeding can happen anywhere and anytime from your kid’s body. It can occur in places, likewise the nasal passage, oral cavity or ears. It may also be internal bleeding and may lead to pain, inflammation, and bruising. Few common clinical manifestations of hemophilia are often bruising, bleeding per nose or gum, joint pain and inflammation, either bleeding for long time or oozing out of blood from any other injuries or surgical incisions, blackish stools and pink or red color urine.
 
Psychological Effects on Children
Children with hemophilia find it difficult to come to grips with the fact that they are different from other non-hemophiliac children. They may go against this by refusing the instructions their parents give them or when unsupervised at home. As a result, it becomes more difficult to control the bleeding disorder. In case of any complications, children may have to miss class and this causes them to lag behind their batch mates; in turn, this can cause poor academic as well as extra-curricular performance and a subsequent lowering of self-esteem. In few cases, when school personnel are insensitive to the child’s condition, the child may feel embarrassed and frustrated during classroom interactions and this erodes their self-confidence.
 
How to Cope With It
Hemophilia has no cure. Treatment helps to cure the bleeding. Your child may require rehabilitation or surgical intervention to treat other problems if his hemophilia is in a bad condition. Your child may need first aid, that is, rest, ice application, compression and elevation of the bleeding area. He or she may require a central venous line (CVL) device too. Medicines may include antifibrinolytic proteins (local blood clotting agent), desmopressin (treats hemophilia A
) and rehabilitation, replacement therapy, preventive therapy and surgery in the damaged joints may be needed to cure your child.
 
Hemophilia is a rare but no cure disease. If your child is diagnosed with it take full care of him or her and support your child whenever needed.
Hemophilia and Adults Today
Hemophilia and Adults
Hemophilia Blood CellsHemophilia, a rare bleeding disorder caused by an inherited impairment in a couple of chromosomes. The word “Hemophilia” comprises of two Greek words: haima, which means blood, and philia, which means affinity or affection. When anyone inherits certain impaired blood clotting factors, hemophilia may affect him or her. The defect for Hemophilia depends on an individual’s ability to produce clotting factors. Hemophilia occurs in two types, hemophilia A and hemophilia B. In both the types, a cistron gets impaired. The impaired cistron obstructs with the ability of the body to create the clotting factors that allows clotting within normal clotting time.
 
Every year around 75 percent of adult over age of 35 years suffers from hemophilia, around 18,000 hemophiliac people lives in United States. The fact is that around one third of ten thousand men is born with hemophilia A. Globally, an  approximate calculation shows that, around 500,000 people are living with hemophilia. Hemophilia is a disorder of sex chromosome and affects mainly chromosome X. The gender of your children is always determined by your sex chromosomes. Males have a pair of chromosome, XY and while females have a pair of X chromosomes. In case of hemophilia, there will be an impaired gene on the chromosome X. Genes are full of information that tell your body what action to take. Chromosomes are the container in the body, which packs the genes in it. A parent transfers down the impaired gene on the chromosome X to the kid. This can affect with many generations and the entire family knows of the bleeding disorder, that is, hemophilia. For few families, the impaired gene is a new change that they are not inherited from their parents. This is known to have a mutation spontaneously.
 
Causes of Hemophilia
An individual with impaired X chromosome will have hemophilia. However, to be affected by hemophilia a female should carry both impaired X chromosome, which happens rare. Around 70 percent of cases occur due to impaired gene transmission and other 30 percent occurs due to spontaneous mutation.  Sometimes, hemorrhages may lead to death due to bleeding in hemophilia.
If mother is not carrying any impaired chromosome but father is carrying abnormal X chromosome then in case of their offspring, one son will be affected by hemophilia and all the daughters will act as a carrier due to presence of the impaired chromosome. Twenty-three pairs of chromosomes are present in each men and women.
 
Clinical Manifestations of Hemophilia
Some of the common clinical features of hemophilia are bleeding or oozing out of blood immediately after injury, presence of blood in urine and stool, bleeding for extended period after cutting the umbilical cord at birth, prolonged bleeding after tooth extract, internal bleeding into joints and muscle that will give rise to pain, swelling etc. The physician may question you about the present and past history of your health. He or she will enquire about full details of your episodes of bleeding, any family history of bleeding disorders. A few samples of your blood will be taken for various diagnostic tests. He or she will observe for your platelet count and 13 clotting factors. Tests will be repeated frequently since the clotting factors levels may change over time to time.
 
Combating Hemophilia in Adults
Though hemophilia has no cure, in modern era, it has many treatment options and the best treatment choice for it is to replace the low or missing clotting factors. Usually, two types of clotting factors are replaced during therapy, they are, one derived from plasma of human beings, and other is cistron, which has been grown synthetically using recombinant DNA technique.
Other Treatment options are gene therapy, use of aminocaproic acid to prevent oral bleeding, plasmapheresis may reduce the antibody’s load and antifibrinolytic therapy is used to stabilize a clot. Two drugs, epsilon aminocaproic acid or tranexamic acid are used in this therapy. Medicines may include antifibrinolytic proteins (local blood clotting agent), desmopressin (treats hemophilia A) and rehabilitation, preventive therapy and surgery in the damaged joints may be needed to cure the condition.
 
Hemophilia is a rare but no cure disease. If you are diagnosed with it, take full care of yourself, always be optimistic and do not lose hope at any cost.