Haemophilia

Haemophilia

Introduction
Haemophilia is a sex-linked genetic disorder that you are born with and is passed down through the family along the female bloodline. In a person without haemophilia a protein is present in their blood that causes it to clot and in people suffering from haemophilia this protein is either in very small quantities or not present at all. The lack of this protein causes the person to have a tendency to bleed easily. There are two main types of haemophilia, Haemophilia A, a lack of factor VIII and Haemophilia B (Christmas Disease), a lack of factor IX.

In severe cases, where either factor is completely missing, bleeding can recurrently and spontaneously happen into joints. Knee’s, elbows and ankle are most affected by the bleeds whereas shoulders and wrists are less affected. A person with haemophilia will often recognise the early signs of a joint bleed before a doctor could detect any sign of swelling or bleeding. Muscle bleeds are also common in severe c...