Hemophilia

6 Quick Main Topics

• Genetic disorder caused by missing or defective factor VIII, a clotting protein.

• Inherited in an X-linked recessive (occurs most in males).

• There are four possible outcomes for a female carrier. She can pass on a boy with hemophilia, boy without hemophilia, girl carrier, or a girl with hemophilia. This will be determined by the XY of the father.

• Symptoms: bleeding longer than usual, internally into joints and muscles or externally.

• Hemophilia occurs in approximately 1 in 5,000 live births. 

• No cure, but treatment can be provided by factor therapies.

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Hemophilia is a very rare X linked recessive trait, occurring typically more in males. This is due to males only having one X chromosome out of two (XY). The Y chromosome will never be affected, so only the X will determine if the male has received the trait. For people who have hemophilia, there are two types. Hemophilia A & B. Hemophilia A is four times more common than B. While hemophilia is caused by defective factor Vll, while hemophilia B is caused by the defective factor IX. While a female can be a carrier, a male cannot. A female carrier has the trait but the trait does not affect her, since she has the trait she can pass it down to either male or female children. Most of the information I obtained about hemophilia was in class, Mr. Black did a tremendous job explaining hemophilia and how it is a X linked recessive trait. I would have never known how males are affected more than females with X linked traits, only because of their Y chromosome. I enjoyed this topic, because I expanded my research on the trait and how it personally affects people dealing with no cure for hemophilia.

Interactive:
If the mother carries the hemophilia gene and the father has hemophilia, what ratio of their kids will receive hemophilia?

Citations:

"Hemophilia A". National Hemophilia Foundation, 2016, https://www.hemophilia.org/Bleeding-Disorders/Types-of-Bleeding-Disorders/Hemophilia-A.

Reference, Genetics. "Hemophilia". Genetics Home Reference, 2016, https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/hemophilia.