Haemophilia is a genetic (inherited) condition that affects the blood’s ability to clot. If you cut yourself, proteins called clotting factors combine with blood cells called platelets to make the blood sticky, so that the bleeding eventually stops.
However, in cases of haemophilia, there are not as many clotting factors in the blood as there should be, so a person with the condition will bleed for a longer time than usual.
Haemophilia is often associated with external bleeding. However, a more common symptom is internal bleeding, which usually occurs around the joints and muscles. Internal bleeding can cause symptoms of pain and stiffness and, over time, it can damage the joints.
The symptoms of haemophilia can range from being mild to moderate to severe.
The way that haemophilia genes are passed down through family members means that almost all cases of haemophilia develop in males. See the ‘causes’ section for more information about this.
Types of haemophilia
The two most common types of haemophilia are:
- haemophilia A, and
- haemophilia B.
Both types of haemophilia have the same set of symptoms, but each type is caused by problems with different clotting factors and, therefore, they have slightly different treatments.
There is also a rarer form of haemophilia, called acquired haemophilia, which is not an inherited condition but is caused by the immune system attacking the clotting factors in the blood.
The rest of this article focuses on haemophilia A and B.
How common is haemophilia?
Haemophilia A is the most common form of the condition. It is estimated that 1 in every 5,000 boys will be born with haemophilia A.
Haemophilia B is a lot less common than haemophilia A. It is estimated that 1 in every 30,000 boys will be born with haemophilia B.
Outlook
Although there is no cure for haemophilia, the outlook for the condition is generally good. This is due to major advances in treatment that occurred during the 1990s.
One of the most important advances in the treatment of haemophilia was the creation of genetically engineered clotting factors to prevent, or treat, prolonged bleeding. The clotting factors can be given by injection on a regular basis.
The advantage of the newly developed medications is that they do not contain human blood cells, which means that those using them are not at risk of contracting a blood-borne virus, such as HIV or hepatitis C.
Unfortunately, this was not the case in the past. For example, during the 1970s and 1980s, when there was less known about blood-borne viruses, many people with haemophilia received blood that was contaminated with HIV and hepatitis C.
Most experts agree that if a child is born with haemophilia today, and receives the right treatment, there is no reason why they should not be able to live a long life, as well as enjoying a good quality of life.