Hemophilia

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Symptoms
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues
• Genetics

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Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Women
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Hemophilia is a rare disorder in which the blood does not clot normally. It is usually inherited. Hemophilia usually occurs in males.

If you have hemophilia, you have little or no clotting factor. Clotting factor is a protein needed for normal blood clotting. Without it, you may bleed for a long time after an injury or accident. You also may bleed into your knees, ankles, and elbows. Bleeding in the joints causes pain and, if not treated, can lead to arthritis. Bleeding in the brain, a very serious complication of hemophilia, requires emergency treatment.

The main symptoms of hemophilia are excessive bleeding and easy bruising. Blood tests can tell if you have it. The main treatment is injecting the missing clotting factor into the bloodstream. You may need it on a regular basis, or just when bleeding occurs.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Start Here

• Frequently Asked Questions: Hemophilia (World Federation of Hemophilia)
• Hemophilia Facts (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Hemophilia in Pictures (World Federation of Hemophilia) Also in Spanish
• Learning about Hemophilia (National Human Genome Research Institute)
• What is Hemophilia? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish

Symptoms

• What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Hemophilia? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Coagulation Factors Test (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
• Fibrinogen Test (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
• Hemophilia Diagnosis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• How Is Hemophilia Diagnosed? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
• PT and INR Test (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
• PTT Test (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)

Treatments and Therapies

• Hemophilia Treatments Have Come a Long Way (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish
• How Is Hemophilia Treated? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
• What Is a Blood Transfusion? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Living With

• Living with Hemophilia (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Related Issues

• Carrier Diagnosis (World Federation of Hemophilia)
• Inhibitors (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Genetics

• Genetics Home Reference: hemophilia (National Library of Medicine)
• What Causes Hemophilia? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Statistics and Research

• Hemophilia Data and Statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Blood Coagulation Disorders (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Hemophilia A (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Targeting of Antithrombin in Hemophilia A or B with RNAi...
• Article: Emicizumab Prophylaxis in Hemophilia A with Inhibitors.
• Article: Rituximab for treating inhibitors in people with inherited severe hemophilia.
• Hemophilia -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Find a Hematologist (American Society of Hematology)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Children

• Hemophilia (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• How to Deal with Hemophilia (Nemours Foundation)

Teenagers

• Hemophilia (For Teens) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Women

• Familiy Planning and Pregnancy (World Federation of Hemophilia)

Patient Handouts

• Hemophilia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hemophilia A (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hemophilia B (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Partial thromboplastin time (PTT) (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish