What is it?

Hemophilia is usually an inherited genetic condition in which the body fails to produce blood clots, resulting in longer bleeding time after an injury and easy bruising. In more severe cases, there is also a risk of bleeding inside joints or to the brain. The proteins that are not functioning properly in these disorders are the different clotting factors. Most of the forms of hemophilia are inherited, but in about 30% there is no family history. Usually, in the herited form, the genes coding for clotting factor are inherited on the X chromosome, meaning hemophilia is much more common in men. The most common types of hemophilia are hemophilia A- which occurs due factor 8 deficiency, and hemophilia B- which occurs due to factor 9 deficiency. Women can carry the defective gene and pass it on but usually they will not experience excessive bleeding. There are also forms of acquired hemophilia, due to immune system issues- when the body attacks its own clotting factors. It could occur in pregnancies, cancer, multiple sclerosis and autoimmune conditions. Hemophilia complications include deep internal bleeding causing damage to surrounding tissue, joints damage and adverse reaction to clotting factor treatment.