Introduction to haemophilia

Imagine a situation where you fell down, hit your leg and blood start running. However, it takes longer for the blood to stop! Do you know why?

Because of haemophilia, your blood is missing a protein called clotting factor. There are 13 clotting factors in total and your blood is missing one of them.

When a wound bleeds, clotting factors help stop the bleeding. However, because your blood lacks a coagulation factor, the wound cannot close quickly and the blood runs for longer.

In addition, it is easier for bleeding to happen.

Check the most common sites of bleeding in haemophilia:

Joints

Joints are found in the legs, hands, fingers and knees. In general, the place where two bones meet and move is called a joint. The most common joints where bleeds happen is in your elbows, knees, or ankles, but sometimes even in your shoulder, hip or finger.

Muscles

Muscles are the soft parts that move the different parts of our body. There are many small vessels in each muscle. If any of them breaks, then this muscle bleeds.

Do you know what vessels are?They are the tubes that carry blood from your heart to your whole body. Your heart and all the vessels together form the circulatory system.

Want to see how the circulatory system works?

BLEEDING IS USUALLY

TREATED BY INJECTING

PLASMA CONTAINING

THE MISSING CLOTTING

FACTOR INTO A VEIN.

THEN THE BLEEDING

WILL STOP.

YOUR PARENTS

AND DOCTOR WILL

KNOW HOW TO INJECT

YOUR TREATMENT FOR YOU.

Busting myths in haemophilia

You may have heard that haemophilia is contagious, that is, you got it from someone else or that someone might get it from you. This, of course, is a myth! The truth is that as with all people with haemophilia, you were born like that.

Another myth is that children with haemophilia cannot play sports. You know what the truth is? That exercise is good for us and protects us from bleeding! We just need to be careful not to get hurt and follow the safety rules when exercising!

Learn more about

haemophilia by

reading it’s myths

and truths.

Click here!

References:

Srivastava A, Santagostino E, Dougall A, et al. WFH guidelines for the Management of Hemophilia, 3rd edition. Haemophilia. 2020:00:1-158
https://doi.org/10.1111/hae.14046

Initiated by:

#askhemilios

This information is intended to inform and update the public and may in no way serve as a substitute to consultation with a doctor or other professional health service.

M-SG-00000340-06-2021