Lighting it up red: World Hemophilia Day 2016

April 17th is observed as World Hemophilia Day. Through its theme ‘Light it up Red’ World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) aims to encourage the community to come together and create global awareness about this disease and other inherited bleeding disorders. Globally 1 in 1,000 people has a bleeding disorder and are not diagnosed or treated on time.

Let’s take a closer look at what is Hemophilia:
The clotting process is encouraged by certain blood particles (platelets and plasma proteins). Hemophilia occurs when there is a deficiency in one of these clotting factors. It is a genetic disorder that prevents the blood from clotting properly, causing the person to bleed severely from even a slight injury such as a small cut while shaving, which means the patient should to be extremely cautious to avoid any event of blood loss.
This condition of bleeding disorder is rarely seen among women, often congenital that is inherited during development in the womb and affects only male child (happens as a result of the change in genes) with about 1 in every 5,000—10,000 born.

How to detect some of the emergency signs or symptoms of Hemophilia

Signs and symptoms of hemophilia vary, depending on the severity of the condition
• Sudden pain, swelling and warmth in large joints, such as knees, elbows, hips and shoulders, and in the arm and leg muscles
• Unexplained and excessive bleeding from cuts or injuries, or after surgery or dental work
• Bleeding from an injury, in case of a severe form of hemophilia
• Unusual bleeding after vaccinations
• Pain, swelling or tightness in the joints
• Blood in the urine or stool
• Sudden bleeding of nose without a known cause
• Among infants, unexplained irritability
• Painful, prolonged headache
• Repeated vomiting
• Extreme fatigue
• Neck pain
• Double vision

How to treat the condition and take necessary precautions:

• This condition often being a genetic one cannot be cured completely, but can be controlled with timely diagnosis and proper treatment.
• If you are pregnant or planning pregnancy, it’s always advisable to get tested for haemophilia.
• It is imperative to conduct tests to determine hemophilia in a new born baby and also for the doctor to enquire about the family history.
• If your child bruises easily or has heavy bleeding that can’t be stopped after an injury, seek medical care.
• If hemophilia is not controlled, it will cause internal bleeding affecting vital organs and sometimes it leads to permanent disability.