Myths And Facts About Haemophilia!

Haemophilia is a rare condition in which blood does not clot effectively when you suffer an injury or damage. It is an inherited disease where the person lacks the clotting factors in his or her plasma. 

If you have haemophilia or know someone who has this condition, you should well be aware of the disease so you can be more cautious and prevent further complications. Below are some facts and myths about haemophilia everyone should know about. 

Facts about Haemophilia

• There are three different types of haemophilia - haemophilia A, B, and C.

• The clotting factor a person is deficient in determines the type of haemophilia he or she has – VIII for A, IX for B and XII for haemophilia C.

• The more deficient in the clotting factor, the more severe the haemophilia will be.

• There is no absolute cure for haemophilia but with regular treatment, people can live normal, healthy lives.

• Haemophilia A and B are carried on the X chromosome due to which it affects males more than females but females can be carriers of the disease as well.

• According to the World Federation of Haemophilia (WFH), about one in 10,000 people are born with this disease.

• Haemophilia A is the most common type of the disease.

• Haemophilia C is the rarest type of the disease.

• Haemophilia C affects both males and females.

• The disease is usually detected in the early stages of life.

• Complications of haemophilia include joint pain, arthritis, heart disease, kidney disease and haemorrhage, particularly cranial haemorrhage. 

Myths about Haemophilia

• If a person, who has haemophilia, gets any cut, he will bleed to death. 

People with haemophilia just bleed for longer than others do. The real concern is if internal organs or deep tissues and joints have serious bleeding or are hurt, one must seek medical help.

 Haemophilia only affects males. 

Though it is an extremely rare condition in females, they are carriers of Haemophilia C.

• Everyone with haemophilia will have the same level of deficiency.

Depending on the genetic change or mutation in the family, the deficiency level of clotting factors in the blood differs. 

• Family members tend to have different severities of haemophilia.

This is a myth because the genetic disorder is passed down through family members and everyone will have identical severity of the disease. Some may seem to have different severity but that depends on how active the person is or how accident-prone individuals they are.

• All three forms of haemophilia involve the same deficiency.

Haemophilia A is a deficiency in clotting factor VIII, Haemophilia B is a deficiency in clotting factor IX and Haemophilia C is the result of a clotting factor XI deficiency. 

• Patients with Haemophilia have a family history of the same disease.

It is not necessarily so because researchers have estimated that one-third of the cases happen due to new mutations and without a family history of the disease. 

• Everyone with haemophilia will have bad joints.

While this was true eventually, in the long-term joint injury and arthritic changes in patients with haemophilia can be prevented. 

Filtering the facts from myths about haemophilia is extremely important, especially for those living with this disease. Having complete knowledge of the condition can help you identify the symptoms better, and seek help and adopt precautionary measures, as needed.