The IAA One Minute Blog

While hemophilia may seem like an outdated disease (think the famous royal Romanov family) it is still a disorder that people are born with.  March is Hemophilia Awareness Month, so show your support by learning more about this disorder!

What is Hemophilia?

Hemophilia is an inherited bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot properly. This can lead to spontaneous bleeding, as well as bleeding following injuries or surgery.

Hemophilia is caused by a mutation or change in one of the genes that provides instructions for making the clotting factor protein needed to form a blood clot. The change or mutation can prevent the clotting protein from working properly, or it might be missing altogether.

Blood contains clotting factors that can help people stop bleeding. People with hemophilia have low levels of either factor VIII or factor IX. The severity of hemophilia that a person has is determined by the amount of factor in the blood. The lower the amount of factor, the more likely it is that bleeding will occur, which can lead to serious health problems.

There are different types of hemophilia:

1. Hemophilia A: This type is caused by a lack or decrease in clotting factor VIII.
2. Hemophilia B: This type is caused by a lack or decrease in clotting factor IX.
3. Hemophilia C: Signs and symptoms are often mild, and are caused by insufficient clotting factor XI.

Even though hemophilia runs in families, some families have no prior history of family members with hemophilia.

Signs and Symptoms of Hemophilia

Signs and symptoms of hemophilia may vary depending on your level of clotting factors:

• Bleeding into the joints: This can cause swelling and pain or tightness in the joint; it often affects the knees, elbows and ankles.
• Bleeding into the skin (which is bruising) or muscle and soft tissue, causing a buildup of blood in the area (called a hematoma).
• Bleeding of the mouth and gums, and bleeding that is hard to stop after losing a tooth.
• Blood in urine or stool.
• Frequent and hard to stop nosebleeds.
• Large or deep bruises.
• Unexplained and excessive bleeding from cuts or injuries, or after surgery or dental work.

Death can occur if bleeding cannot be stopped or if it occurs in a vital organ.

What IAA has to Say

While many people have heard of hemophilia, they may not know exactly what is. Insurance Administrator of America wants you to help support Hemophilia Awareness Month by sending this blog post onto friends and colleagues. Remember, with IAA one call does it all.

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