Hemophilia

 HEMOPHILIA
 * We apologize for the varying text sizes, but the computer was uncooperative and we just couldn't seem to get all the text at the same size.

I. Introduction** Hemopilia is a sex linked, recessive disorder. This disease is extremely rare and results in a blood clotting deficiency. In other words, one with this disease will bleed for a longer duration of time then one without it. Also, the diagnosed may bleed internally particularly around their knees, ankles, and elbows. There are two types of this disorder; hemophilia A and B. Hemophilia A is greater in severity and more common. Hemophilia B is rarer and less serious.



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The major symptoms of hemophilia are excessive bleeding and easy bruising. Abnormal bleeding may occur from a bite or cut in the mouth, from the nose (nose bleeds), and from small cuts or scrapes. Bleeding will also occur internally and may not be noticeable, but can be determined from blood in the urine or in the stool. Bleeding at the joints can be extremely painful. The most dangerous form of internal bleeding is in the brain. The symptoms of this are headaches, stiffness of the neck, vomiting, mood swings, fatigue, random weakness of the limbs, double vision, and fainting or seizures.
 * II. Symptoms/Effects**



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**III. Diagnosis and Prognosis** If a doctor suspects a patient of having hemophilia, he or she will check family history first to see if there is any history of the disease in the family. In addition, he will perform blood tests on the patient. He will check for a clotting factor in the blood. These tests can determine how much of the normal clotting factor one has, how long it will take for the blood to clot, and if one is missing the clotting factor completely. If a patient has a mild case of hemophilia, the only kind that may be diagnosed as an adult, they have 5 to 30 percent of the normal clotting factor. If they have 1 to 5 percent of the normal factor, then they have a moderate case of the disorder. If there is less than 1 percent, then the hemophilia is severe.

The prognosis for those with hemophilia is relatively good. With treatment, one can lead a normal or nearly normal lifestyle. However, there are some people who have an inhibitor of factor VIII, which determines the amount of clotting of the blood. These people can die from blood loss. **IV. Treatment** The widely-used treatment for hemophilia is called "replacement treatment." This provides a person affected by the disorder with the clotting factors they are lacking in their blood. Blood is dripped or injected slowly into a patient's vein. The blood that is given is usually donated and is screened for infectious diseases before it is used. Also, a clotting factor concentrate that does not involve human blood is sometimes used. They are called "recombinant factors" and can be taken easily at a patient's home. Some replacement therapy, whether used with real blood or not, is given to prevent future bleeding, and others are given as needed.

However, there are a few complications involved with this kind of treatment. A person can have antibodies that will attack the given clotting factor. In some cases, the human blood given can give a person a viral infection. Finally, if the treatment is not given in time, joints can be damaged because of internal bleeding.

There are other kinds of treatment, but they are not as common. Desmopressin is a hormone supplement for those with mild cases. It is either a shot or a nasal spray and is only given before dental work or surgery. Antifibrinolytic medicines are used with the replacement treatment to keep blood clots from breaking down. They are also only used before dental work, or to treat bleeding in the intestines, mouth, or nose.



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In the United States, hemophilia is seen in about 20,000 individuals. This represents a 0.01% prevalence rate. 400 babies every year are born with hemophilia in the country. There have been 1,681 deaths from hemophilia from clotting problems recorded, based on information recorded in 1999. The greatest number of ESTIMATED cases in the world seem to be in Egypt, the Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Russia, Germany, Mexico, and the United States. These figures apply the population of the United States and the figures of hemophilia to other regions and are not based on country surveys, particularly because there are no country surveys available. As you can see, incidence of hemophilia is spread all over the world. However, there are less cases of hemophilia in Africa and South America than elsewhere in the world, and Asia seems to have a relatively high incidence - India has over 78,000 estimated cases, which is the highest number.
 * V. Statistics**

One of the most famous cases of hemophilia ever is that of Alexei, the son of Russian czar Nicholas II. No one knew much about the disease at that time in history, and a distraught mother turned to the infamous Rasputin to treat Alexei's severe hemophilia. This placed Rasputin into a position of heightened importance in the Russian empire, because he was allowed deeper into Nicholas II's circle of trust as his mystical healing powers seemed to relieve Alexei's symptoms. Rasputin eventually gained power and authority, which was in fact one of the driving forces in the downfall of the the Russian empire and the line of Romanov czars.
 * VI. "Fun" Facts**

"What Is Hemophilia." __National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.__ 2 April 2008. [|.
 * VII. Bibliography**

"Hemophilia A." __MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia.__ 4 April 2008. <   [|http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000538.htm>.]

"Statistics about Hemophilia." __WrongDiagnosis.__ 4 April 2008. <  [|http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/h/hemophilia/stats.htm>.] "Statistics by Country for Hemophilia." __WrongDiagnosis.__ 4 April 2008. <     [|http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/h/hemophilia/stats-country.htm>.]

" What is Hemophilia." __WiseGeek.__ 4 April 2008. <      [|http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hemophilia.htm] Dont forget to add pictures of some sort. Other than that I think you ahve a lot of useful information. AM and VR
 * IX. Comments**

We thought your page was very informative. The treatment for this disease is kind of interesting! -Color Blindness

Very informitive, but pictures could be used to break the "wall-o'-words" effect -Albinism

Very informative! My only criticism is that it just looks like a page of information. In order to break it up, I would suggest to add color to it. Yeah, I think that's interesting that           Alexei had hemophilia. We talked about him in world culture this year. Again, great job!~Turner's Syndrome(SL&KT)

Hey, great job. This page is very organized and well thought out. We corrected the spelling of "Philippines," and typos of "highest" and "symptoms." Nice placement of pictures, but you could have used more color to make it more appealing. Good work. PR & EN

Whoa! I didn't know that they replaced the blood! That must be painful! LF, KF