Thursday, November 4, 2010

Hemophilia

What Is Hemophilia?


Hemophilia is the body's inability to control blood clotting, which is used when a blood vessel is broken. Hemophilia A is the most common form of this disorder. Hemophilia B is the second most common form of this Genetic disorder. Hemophilia lowers blood plasma levels of the coagulation factors needed for a normal clotting process. When a blood vessel gets injured a scab will form but the missing of coagulation factors prevent fibrin formation, which is completly necessary for it to maintain a blood clot. If you have this disorder you do not bleed more then people without it, you just bleed longer then people without it. If you have a severe case of this disorder you only need a minor injury for you to bleed for days or even weeks, in some cases you dont heal all the way. In the areas such as the brain or joints, this disorder could be fatal.


Symptoms?


Symptoms of hemophilia are usually first noticed during infancy or childhood. But some people who have milder forms of hemophilia may not have symptoms until later in life. Although there are different types of hemophilia, the symptoms are the same.

The following are signs of hemophilia that may be noticed shortly after birth:

  • Bleeding into the muscle, resulting in a deep bruise after receiving a routine vitamin K shot
  • Prolonged bleeding after a male child is circumcised
  • In rare cases, prolonged bleeding after the umbilical cord is cut at birth

Other symptoms of hemophilia include:

  • Bleeding into a joint or muscle that causes pain and swelling.
  • Abnormal bleeding after an injury or surgery.
  • Easy bruising.
  • Frequent nosebleeds.
  • Blood in the urine (hematuria).

Queston: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/hemophilia/hemophilia_treatments.html

1. Hemophilia is treated with replacement therapy, what is replacement therapy?

2. Name two complications of replacement therapy.

3. What chromosome is the carrier of hemophilia? And is it possible for a woman to be a hemophiliac? Explain.



















1 comment:

  1. 1. Replacement therapy is when clotting factor is dripped or injected into the blood to help create a clott that the blood would normally lack. There are two types of replacement therapy, preventative and demand therapy.
    2. Although helpful replacement therapy could also cause your botting to create antibodies that work against the clotting factors, or you could develop viral infections from the human clotting agent.
    3. The two genes are clotting factor VIII and clotting factor IX which are both found on the X chromosome. A woman can be a hemophiliac but it is very rare. She must have the gene on both X chromosomes, but she can be a carrier of hemophilia if she has the gene on one of her X chromosomes.

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