April 17 is World Haemophilia Day, and is considered a landmark effort is raising awareness about haemophilia. Started in 1989 by the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) in honour of WFH founder Frank Schnabel’s birthday, the occasion gets global support. Read more about Haemophilia and why it occurs in people.

Haemophilia is a blood related disease where a person losses the capability of blood clotting and experiences abnormal bleeding. This type of bleeding disorder is inherited or in simpler terms, is transferred from one family generation to another. Hemophilia, are distinguished into two forms; type A and type B. A rare kind of hemophilia is type C or extreme levels of type A and B.

Scientifically they are termed or classified as X-linked recessive genetic pattern. Haemophilia is expressed only when both parents share the same gene. They are much more common in males than female. Females are basically carriers of this gene and passes on to another generation in the family.

Since this disease is gene based, alterations and mutations in genes that codes or expresses for blood clot is impaired or deprived. Technically blood clotting is a complex process performed by 13 different proteins. Type A or Hemophilia A is caused by impairment of protein 8 or factor 8 and Hemophilia B by factor 9.

It is instructed that people diagnosed with hemophilia must not consume pain related drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen. One may also consider taking anti-fibrinolytic drugs, Desmopressin (DDAVP), Fibrin sealants, and other types of physical therapies.