Hemophilia Hemophilia is a genetically inherited bleeding disorder which is caused when one of the plasma proteins (needed to clot) is missing or abnormally formed in the blood. The word Hemophilia comes from the Latin word hemo, meaning blood and the word philia, meaning: having a tendency towards. Knowledge of hemophilia has been around since biblical times (due to the age of hemophilia it is uncertain who the exact founder of the disease is) but it wasn't until the 1960's that scientists began to make new advances towards figuring out what hemophilia was. There are two types of hemophilia: hemophilia A or factor VIII deficiency, and hemophilia B or factor IX deficiency. Hemophilia A is more common than hemophilia B with 85% of those affected by hemophilia having it. A person with hemophilia does not bleed harder or faster than a normal person would when injured, but they bleed longer because their blood is unable to form a firm clot. Small cuts are normally not a problem, but sometimes bleeding in the joints occurs due to a person's body growth. This results in swelling of the affected joint and extreme pain when the joint or muscle is moved. It is reported that one in ten thousand males get hemophilia A. It has been calculated that worldwide there are approximately 350,000 people with severe or moderate hemophilia, although hemophilia B is 5 times less common that hemophilia A. All races, religions, and economic groups are affected by hemophilia. Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder which is inherited genetically. Due to the pattern of inheritance, the disorder generally affects males only. About one third of hemophilia cases come with a previous family history. Women with a hemophilic gene are called carriers while men are either hemophiliacs or normal. A daughter of a mother who is a carrier and a father who is normal has a 50% chance of being a carrier herself. A son of the same mother and father has a 50% chance of having hemophi
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