Hemophilia A Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Hemophilia A - Essay Example Some emergency cases require urgent medical attention to prevent death. This paper will discuss in detail the causes of the disease, its prevalence, symptoms and diagnosis as well as management and treatment of the disease. Introduction Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder that is hereditary where the blood clotting process takes place in an abnormal way and it is very rare. People affected by hemophilia may bleed for a longer period especially after an accident. Individuals suffering from this disorder may bleed internally especially in joints such as elbows, ankles and the knees. Almost 9 persons out of 10 suffer from Hemophilia A, which is a rare condition and the main type of hemophilia, where the blood clotting process occurs abnormally (Schoenstadt, 1). Factor VIII is essential in the blood clotting process. Hemophilia A may occur due to insufficient factor VIII. If the levels of factor VIII are 6 % to 50% below the normal percentage, bleeding may occur primarily. However, with le vels below 1 percent, impulsive bleeding can occur. Most bleeding occurs into the joints of the arms and legs, causing crippling joint damage. In addition, atrophy occurs due to frequent bleeding into the muscles (Lockwood, 1). Lack of factor VIII may leads to various problems. Because bleeders will not close, there is a higher possibility of bleeding out (Hemophilia.com, 1). Causes and Prevalence of Hemophilia A Defect in one of the genes that determine how the body conducts various blood-clotting factors may result to hemophilia A. This gene, known as F8 is present in the X chromosome. One type of the blood-clotting factor is factor 8, which, normally made by the F8 gene. Mutation of the F8 gene hinders clots from forming in case of an accident, which may lead to too much bleeding and in mot cases it may be difficult to control (Schoenstadt, 2). Women have two X chromosomes. In cases where a factor 8 gene does not function, the gene on the other chromosome can perform the task gen erating enough factors 8. On the other hand, males have only one X-chromosome. If the factor VIII gene on that chromosome is imperfect, they will end up having hemophilia A. Therefore, most people suffering from hemophilia A are males (1). A woman who has imperfect factor 8 gene becomes a carrier. This means that her children may inherit the imperfect gene. In a woman who has the defective gene, any of her male children will have a 50% possibility of having hemophilia A, while any of her female children will have a 50% probability of being carriers (Dugdale et al, 2). In the United States, about 18,000 individuals suffer from hemophilia A and almost 400 babies each year inherit this disorder from their mothers. Even though hemophilia occurs in males only, there is a lower probability that this disorder may affect women. Almost nine individuals out of 10 affected with hemophilia suffer from type A disorder. The people suffering from hemophilia A have a problem with clotting factors. These clotting factors aids in the blood-clotting process, thus their absence leads to hemophilia A (Schoenstadt, 1). Prevalence of hemophilia A varies among different nations. For instance, in the early 1970s, the reported hemophilia A occurrence for the United Kingdom was about 10 per 100 000 males compared to the occurrence