Hemophilia is a disorder of the blood. Its name comes from the Greek word for blood and for friend indicating that it is a family or genetic disorder.  The disease inhibits the ability of the body to control blood clotting. The most common form of hemophilia occurs when the clotting factor of VIII is missing. There is a less common form of the disease in which a factor called IX missing. The occurrence of the first form of hemophilia occurs about one in 5,000 births and the rarer form occurs about one in 20,000 births.

The disorder is related to a defect in the X chromosome and occurs almost entirely in male children. Females play the role of carrier of the defective hemophilia chromosomes. This happens because females have two X chromosomes and can compensate for the defective gene.

The physical manifestations of this disease are that male children with hemophilia bleed for longer period of time than normal children.  It is a myth they bleed more intensely. They just take longer to heal or not healing at all. This make all injuries and surgeries no matter have minor life threatening to those with the disease. This is especially true when internal bleeding occurs and cause permanent damage in area such as joints and the brain.

The disorder was discovered by a doctor John Conrad Otto and it became known as hemophilia.  Queen Victoria passed the gene on to her son Leopold and several of her daughters were carriers. This causes it to be called the “royal disease;’ and the disease effected most of the major families of Europe by the early twentieth century Alexei the son of the last Czar of Russia was a well known for suffering from the disease.

In more recent times hemophiliacs have been at greater risk to get hepatitis and aids because of having to have frequent blood transfusions to live with their disease. After 1985 the government raised the standard of blood screening and lowered their risk of receiving tainted blood.

The disease of hemophilia is diagnosed thru genetic testing and the treatment may still include blood transfusions. Now they are able to inject people suffering with hemophilia .with the clotting factor they are missing. This break through is do to advances in genetic research.