Treatment of hemophilia

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor I Do Van Manh - Emergency Resuscitation Doctor - Emergency Resuscitation Department - Vinmec Ha Long International Hospital

Hemophilia is a dangerous disease that can threaten the life of the patient. Treat hemophilia as soon as possible to avoid dangerous complications later on.

When the body lacks clotting factors, especially factors VIII and IX, the body will have hemophilia. Only the X chromosome has genes for these two clotting factors.
According to scientists, hemophilia is a recessive genetic disease, related to the X chromosome. Boys carrying XY chromosomes, if they receive X disease from their mothers, they will have symptoms of the disease. . Girls carrying XX chromosomes, showing disease when carrying both X diseases, ie receiving X diseases from both parents, However, this probability is very low, so the percentage of girls with hemophilia inherited from their fathers mothers will be less likely to have boys with the disease.
Hemophilia is a rare disease, worldwide prevalence is 1 in 5,000 children.
Besides genetic factors, the cause of hemophilia can be genetic mutations and these genes can have the ability to cause disease in the next generation.

Hemophilia often has the following typical signs:
When the patient falls or hits, rubs or injures, bleeding often occurs. Uncontrollable bleeding at the site of injury, bruising, or hematoma in the muscle. Unexplained bruises appear on the body. Large joints bleeding such as knees, elbows, ankles, brain bleeding. Bleeding for no apparent reason. There is blood in the stools and urine. The joints are swollen and painful. Signs of hemophilia are quite variable and depend on the severity of the disease.
When you see any signs of hemophilia, you should go to specialized medical facilities for early diagnosis and treatment.

It is estimated that at present, in Vietnam, only about 50% of patients with hemophilia are diagnosed and treated. cause. People with this disease can completely live as normal people if detected and treated early.
Due to the limited understanding of patients as well as the community about hemophilia, most patients are detected late. A study has shown that about 60% of adults and 20% of children with hemophilia are disabled, this is due to late detection and treatment.
So can blood clotting disease be cured? Currently, there is no cure for hemophilia because this is a genetic disease, we can only overcome and alleviate the symptoms of the disease.
Treatment of hemophilia takes a long time and depends on replacement clotting factors. These replacement clotting factors can be obtained from blood donated from another person or using similar products, which are not made from human blood. People with hemophilia can receive injections of the hormone DDAVP (desmopressin) to stimulate the body to release clotting factors.
In addition, there are some notes that the patient should keep in mind:
Do not do acupuncture, intramuscular injection, massage,... Do not eat hard, boney foods. You should go to a specialized medical facility to receive a doctor's advice when someone in your family has hemophilia, avoiding the risk of transmitting the disease to the next generation. The menu of people with hemophilia should add more potatoes, vegetables, pumpkins... Patients should avoid collisions that cause bleeding, if bleeding occurs, need to go to a medical facility for treatment. Treat the wound immediately, do not treat it yourself at home. When using supportive medicine, it is necessary to have a prescription from a specialist. Go for regular health check-ups. In addition, there are currently some proposals on providing medicine so that patients can self-treat at home in case the distance from home to the hospital is too far, taking a long time to travel; Because once the disease has worsened, it is necessary to have intervention measures as soon as possible, the time to travel to the medical facility can make the bleeding condition worse.
Hemophilia is a disease that inconveniences the patient's life and is difficult to cure. Therefore, when you see any symptoms of the disease in the body, it is necessary to immediately go to reputable medical facilities to be examined, diagnosed, perform blood tests for hemophilia and treat the disease as soon as possible. , avoid dangerous complications later.