By Annette Campbell
Did you know that people with the blood clotting disorder, haemophilia, don’t actually bleed any more profusely than anyone else – just for a longer time? It’s a myth that people with this condition will gush blood from a cut and quickly bleed to death.
And did you also know that haemophilia nearly always affects males?
This lack of understanding and awareness is exactly what the Haemophilia Foundation of Australia is hoping World Haemophilia Day on April 17, will help to overcome.
“The theme for 2006 is ‘Treatment For All’,” says the Foundation’s President Gavin Finkelstein. “No child born with a bleeding disorder should have to live with pain, disability, or the prospect of early death.”
In Australia, quality care and treatment is available to everyone who needs it, however many people around the world are without safe replacement clotting factor therapy, good clinical diagnosis, and management and care by trained specialists.
Haemophilia is a blood clotting disorder in which one of the essential clotting factors is deficient.
To set the record straight, here are some facts about this misunderstood medical condition:
- Bleeding is mostly internal. The deficiency in clotting factor produces a wide range of bleeding episodes, usually into the joints or muscles. These bleeding episodes, or “bleeds”, may occur spontaneously, or as a result of trauma or injury.
- The bleeding is stopped by infusion of the appropriate clotting factor by intravenous injection. If internal bleeding is not quickly stopped with treatment, it will result in pain and swelling. Over a period of time bleeding into joints and muscles can cause permanent damage such as arthritis, chronic pain and joint damage requiring surgery.
- A person with haemophilia bleeds no more profusely than anyone else, just for a longer time. Minor cuts and scratches pose no problem and require only a sticking plaster and some pressure at the site of bleeding. For deeper cuts, bleeding is prolonged because of the failure of the blood to form a tough, adherent clot at the site of damaged blood vessels. Treatment with clotting factor will then be required.
- There is still no cure for haemophilia. It is a lifelong condition. Treatment is given by injecting the missing clotting factor into veins. With appropriate treatment haemophilia can be managed effectively and children and adults can lead full and productive lives.
April 17 is World Haemophilia Day
Only about 30 per cent of the world’s population of people with haemophilia are diagnosed and only 25 per cent receive adequate treatment. Many people die in childhood.
The theme, ‘Treatment For All’, is aimed at raising awareness of the needs of the global haemophilia community so that everyone with haemophilia has access to adequate treatment and care.
More Information
For more information contact Haemophilia Foundation Australia: www.haemophilia.org.au or phone them on: 1800 807 173.
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