Today, hemophilia is no longer a death sentence

I still remember about 10 years ago, there was a time when I took a relative (let's call him A) to have his wisdom teeth extracted at the dentist's office in District 10. Before accepting the procedure, the dentist's office asked A to have a blood test to see if he had hemophilia or not. I just found it strange that if you have hemophilia, you will often die at a young age, rather than live to be 30 years old like now, but it turns out I was wrong. Hemophilia is a hereditary blood clotting disorder caused by a deficiency of factors VIII and IX, which are essential for blood clot formation. The gene that produces factor VIII/factor IX is located on the sex chromosomes and is recessive, so the patient is usually male and the female is the carrier of the gene. In Vietnam, it is estimated that there are about 30,000 people carrying the hemophilia gene. (Excerpt: vienhuyethoc.vn) If you remember, a 7th or 8th grade Biology class taught about this disease of hemophilia. Most patients often die early, especially women who only live to 12-13 years old, because when they reach puberty and have menstruation, the blood will flow continuously, leading to blood loss and death. But that is the story of the past, from the 1970s onwards, although hemophilia cannot be completely cured, medical advances have been able to help people with hemophilia live with the disease, even living over 70 years old like normal people.

We invite you to read the article about hemophilia from the Institute of Hematology: Hemophilia, also known as hemophilia, is an inherited bleeding disease caused by reduced or abnormal clotting factor function. The prominent feature of the disease is bleeding that is difficult to stop anywhere in the body, but the most common is bleeding in joints and muscles. Joint and muscle bleeding recurs many times, leading to joint deformity and muscle atrophy.

History of hemophilia

2. Causes of hemophilia

– Most cases of hemophilia are hereditary, meaning the disease is transmitted through the genes of the parents and the patient is born with hemophilia rather than being infected with the disease from someone else.

The result can be per birth in case the father is sick and the mother is a carrier of the disease gene – However, 1/3 of patients have no family history. These cases are believed to be caused by a spontaneous genetic mutation of the patient's own.

3. Diagnose the severity of hemophilia

Although clinical symptoms of hemophilia and family history may suggest hemophilia, a definitive diagnosis must rely on blood tests. The severity of hemophilia depends on the amount of clotting factors present in the blood. Affected members of a family have similar levels of clotting factors. Normally factor VIII and factor IX range from 30 - 200%.

Factor VIII or IX is less than 1%. Bleeding in muscles, joints, or other organs that occurs naturally or after minor trauma.

Factor VIII or IX concentration ranges from 1% – 5%. Bleeding after moderate trauma or surgery, tooth extraction.

Factor VIII or factor IX from more than 5% – < 30%. Bleeding is often associated with major trauma, surgery, or tooth extraction. Patients are often diagnosed late, related to trauma or surgery.

4. What are the symptoms of hemophilia?

In general, the symptoms of factor VIII (hemophilia A) and factor IX (hemophilia B) deficiencies are the same. Patients often present:

5. Can hemophilia be cured?

Hemophilia is currently not completely cured, but with treatment to supplement the missing clotting factor, patients can live healthy lives.

Principles of disease treatment

Treat bleeding promptly: Early treatment helps relieve pain and avoid damage to muscles, joints and other organs. At the same time, this helps reduce the amount of blood products and clotting factor concentrates per treatment, saving money and time for the patient. Special note: If there are signs of bleeding, get treatment immediately. Never wait until the joints are swollen, hot, red and painful, which will have consequences for future treatment.

When is treatment needed?

* Treatment should be carried out when: