Hemophilia Essay

Hemophilia is a rare disorder in which the blood does not clot normally, due to the lack of sufficient blood-clotting proteins (platelets and plasma) which are a huge factor to clotting blood so that it stops the bleeding. A person who is diagnosed with Hemophilia may bleed for a longer period of time after an injury than one would if their blood clotted normally. Small cuts usually are not much of a problem, but deep bleeding inside the body is. Especially in the knees, ankles and elbows. Internal bleeding can damage your organs and tissues, and may lead to life-threatening situations.
Hemophilia is an inherited or genetic disorder. The genes are located on the
X chromosome, which is one of two sex chromosomes. In males who have one X chromosome, one copy of the gene is altered in each cell which in return can cause
In females who have two X chromosomes, a mutation must occur in both copies of the gene in order to cause the condition. It is unlikely for females to have two mutated copies of the gene in each cell carrier. That is why it is very rare that females inherit hemophilia. One characteristic of the X-linked chromosome is that fathers cannot pass on the traits to their sons, since the mother is the carrier.
There are three different types of Hemophilia: Hemophilia A, Hemophilia B and Hemophilia C. The most common one is Hemophilia A and in that disorder the person is missing some or all of the clotting factor 8. It is found in 1 to 5,000 males
Hemophilia 3 born in the US. Hemophilia B is missing some or all of the clotting factor 9. Found in 1 to 20,000-25,000 males born in the US. Both have the same result, they bleed for a long time or more than normal. Factor 8 and 9 are proteins essential to bloodclotting, also known as anti-hemophilic factor (AHF). Factor 8 is encoded in humans by the F8 gene, and in response to injury, coagulation factor 9 is