Hemophilia: An Introduction, Symptoms, and Treatment Options

Have you ever met someone who would get injured or bruised easily and would bleed out a lot? Or perhaps you have experienced this yourself chronically? If so, you, or that someone may have hemophilia. However, what is hemophilia? Hemophilia is a rare bleeding disorder where the body's blood doesn’t form blood clots properly and causes people to bleed out abnormally. In addition, this disorder is an inherited disorder that can be passed down from parents to their children. Hemophilia occurs because of a mutation in the parents genes. It is also more likely that men are diagnosed with this disorder, but women could also have it, although it is less likely. There are  two kinds of hemophilia. Their names are  hemophilia A and B. Each of these kinds of hemophilia can have similar symptoms and could have similar treatment options. 

Hemophilia A and B may seem very similar to each other as they are the most common kind of hemophilia, but they are actually quite different from each other. The first kind, Hemophilia A, otherwise known as ‘classic’ hemophilia, is caused by a low level or lack of clotting factor 8. On the other hand, the second type of hemophilia, Hemophilia B (also called ‘Christmas Disease’) is actually caused by a lack of clotting factor 9. According to some research, it is also believed that hemophilia B is less severe than hemophilia A. While they are very similar, they can also be a bit different since they can be less or more severe when compared together. For example, both types can cause easy bruising, bleeding into the joints and skin, bleeding of the mouth and gums, bleeding after vaccinations, bleeding into an infant’s head after a difficult delivery, blood in urine or stool, and frequent nosebleeds that can be hard to stop. If there are so many symptoms, what are some treatments for hemophilia? 

There are actually a couple different treatment options for hemophilia. Moreover, there are actually different treatments for hemophilia while some may be specifically for one. The treatment for both consists of replacing the missing clotting factor that the person lacks. For instance, some treatment options are injecting or infusing the clotting factor concentrates that are already medically prepared into their veins. On the contrary, the treatment for hemophilia A is the injection of clotting factor 8 into their body. Another option for treatment of hemophilia would be gene therapy. Gene therapy was the injection of the copy of the gene that would help the body make more clotting factors to prevent bleeding. Thus, treatment and having hemophilia could affect a person's life in many ways. 

For instance, it could prevent them from being able to enjoy sports or exercise properly since they have to worry about being injured and losing blood. Plus, their muscles could have arthritis and possible joint damage. In other words, it could be very dangerous for people with hemophilia to exercise as it is risky and life threatening for them to get injured and lose a lot of blood. It could also cause anemia, higher risk of bruising, fatigue, and other mental health issues like anxiety. What's more, these injections from treatments may prevent people  from being able to live life to its fullest. 

Ultimately, hemophilia is a rare inherited blood disorder that causes people to bleed out abnormally due to the lack of certain clotting factors whether it be clotting factor 8 or 9. While clotting factor 8 meant hemophilia A, clotting factor 9 meant hemophilia B. These two were the two different types of hemophilia that are extremely common for people to be born with. The symptoms for these two kinds of hemophilia were the same but their treatments were quite different.Some symptoms of hemophilia include bleeding into the joints and the skin. Furthermore, the treatment options for hemophilia were the injections of the missing clot factors or gene therapy. With this being said, hemophilia can actually prevent a person from enjoying sports and life to its fullest as they cannot get injured or they may face life threatening situations.

By Connie Ma at Incisionary

References

About Hemophilia | Hemophilia | CDC. (2025, March 5). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | CDC. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://www.cdc.gov/hemophilia/about/index.html

Hickey, M. (2024, April 16). Hemophilia A vs. B: What's the Difference? Great Lakes Hemophilia Foundation. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://glhf.org/hemophilia-a-vs-b-whats-the-difference-2/

Soliman, M. (2023, August 22). Hemophilia A vs. B: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and Outlook. Healthline. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from

https://www.healthline.com/health/hemophilia-a/hemophilia-a-vs-b

What Is Hemophilia? (n.d.). Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14083-hemophilia

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