What is hemophilia? Hemophilia is an inherited bleeding, or
coagulation, disorder. Children with hemophilia lack the ability
to stop bleeding because of the low levels, or complete absence,
of specific proteins, called "factors," in their blood that are
necessary for clotting. Proper clotting of blood helps prevent
excessive bleeding. In the US, there are about 17,000 people
with hemophilia. What are the different types of hemophilia?
There are many factors in the blood that are involved in the
function of forming clots to stop bleeding. A child with
hemophilia is missing, or has a low supply of, one of the
factors needed in order for the blood to clot. Two factors that
affect blood clotting are factor VIII and factor IX. Hemophilia
is classified by its level of severity. Hemophilia may be mild,
moderate, or severe, depending upon the level of the blood
clotting factors in the blood. The three main forms of
hemophilia include the following: - hemophilia A - caused by a
lack of the blood clotting factor VIII;