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Hemophilia
is a rare genetic bleeding disorder in which a specific clotting
factor protein is missing or does not function normally, preventing
the blood from clotting properly. Hemophilia occurs across all
populations worldwide, affecting all races. Two of the most common
forms of hemophilia are A and B.
Hemophilia A
– A deficiency or absence of factor VIII. It has also been called
“classic” hemophilia and is found almost exclusively in males,
occurring in about 1 in every 10,000 men.
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Hemophilia B
– A deficiency or absence of factor IX. It has also been called
“Christmas Disease,” after the first family that was identified with
the condition and is also found almost exclusively in males, occurring
in about 1 in 34,500 men.
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Both
Hemophilia A and B range in level of severity starting with
Mild Hemophilia
with clotting factor VIII or IX levels ranging from 5% to 40% of
normal blood levels.
Moderate Hemophilia
denotes clotting factor VIII or IX levels ranging from 1% to 5% of
normal blood levels.
Severe Hemophilia
ranges with factor VIII or IX levels below 1% of normal blood levels.
There are other bleeding
disorders such as
von Willebrand Disease
– A bleeding disorder in which von Willebrand factor, a blood protein,
is either missing or does not function properly, preventing the blood
from clotting properly. Von Willebrand disease is estimated to occur
in 1% to 2% of the population can be inherited by both men and women
equally.
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History of Bleeding Disorders: Bleeding disorders have a long history
with references in history going back to writings from 2nd Century
AD.
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