Don`t forget the Bubles - By Jessica Wong and Carly George - 23/03/2023
Haemophilia is a clotting factor deficiency
Clotting factors are proteins in the blood that help control bleeding. When you bleed, your clotting factors form a blood clot. Haemophilia is a bleeding disorder due to low levels of a specific clotting factor. In Australia, haemophilia affects more males at 1 in 6000 to 10,000 than females at less than 1 in 300,000.
There are three main types of haemophilia: Haemophilia A (“Classic Haemophilia”), a clotting Factor VIII (8) deficiency; Haemophilia B (“Christmas Disease”), a clotting Factor IX (9) deficiency; and Haemophilia C, a clotting Factor XI (11) deficiency.
Haemophilia A and B are X-linked disorders, while Haemophilia C is a rare autosomal recessive disorder associated with variable bleeding phenotypes. Haemophilia A is the most common, accounting for roughly 85% of haemophilia cases; Haemophilia B accounts for 15% of cases; and Haemophilia C is the rarest, comprising less than 1% of cases. In this article, we’ll concentrate on the most common, Haemophilia A and B.