Hemophilia Symptoms

ht: normal;"> Hemophilia symptoms are easy to spot if someone suffering from the disease is cut or injured. If these conditions do not occur, a person cannot necessarily tell if someone has hemophilia by looking at him. This condition spread throughout the monarchs of Europe after the rain of Queen Victoria. The most famous person to suffer from the disease is the son of the last Russian Czar, Alexei Romanov.

The X chromosome carries a critical gene involved in blood clotting. Blood clots normally in men without this gene and women experience normal blood clots if at least one gene carries the normal, dominant gene. If the recessive gene that causes hemophilia gets passed to a male child, he will automatically inherit the disease. Female children need to have two copies of the recessive gene to develop the condition.

1. Excessive bleeding. ht: normal;">A cut that bleeds for hours indicate the proper clotting functions are not working in the body. Even small cuts may require hospitalization for a patient with hemophilia. Mild cases may experience unusual bleeding after dental work or even circumcision. A cut may stop briefly only to resume the flow of blood seconds later.
2. Slow healing bruises. ht: normal;">Bruises bleed underneath the skin. A common hemophilia symptom is the body taking a long time to recover from such injuries. Slow healing times for bruises are also a common symptom of Type II diabetes. Untreated internal bleeding can also lead to death.
3. Nosebleeds for no obvious reason. ht: normal;"> Bloody noses along with other types of bleeding suffered by hemophiliacs can last for extended periods of time. Normal methods of stopping a nosebleed may not work.
4. Joint bleeding. ht: normal;">A person with hemophilia may experience internal bleeding in his knees, ankles, elbows, fingers or other joints without any obvious cause. The bleeding causes no symptoms at first, but it may lead to swelling and pain in the joints.
5. Bleeding into the brain. ht: normal;">A patient in hemophilia may experience sudden changes in behavior, persistent pain in the head and neck, double visions or seizures. If any of these occur, his body has probably started releasing blood into the brain. Although many complications of this disease are potentially fatal, this one is probably the most serious.

ht: normal;"> Up until the twentieth century, there was no hemophilia treatment. Modern procedures involve blood transfusions, although the treatment is expensive. Patients undergoing the procedure run the risk of developing blood-borne diseases and STDs such as HIV.