Table of Contents
- Overview
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Hemophilia refers to a group of bleeding disorders in which it takes a long time for the blood to clot.
Related topics:
Hemophilia A Hemophilia B Von Willebrand disease
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
When you bleed, the body launches a series of reactions that help the blood clot. This is called the coagulation cascade. The process involves special proteins called coagulation factors. When one or more of these clotting factors are missing, there is usually a higher chance of bleeding.
Hemophilia is caused by a lack of enough factor VIII or IX. In most cases, hemophilia is passed down through families (inherited). It most often affects males.
Images
Review Date: 02/28/2011
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of
General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington
School of Medicine; and Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow
Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed
by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
