Severity and Type of Hemophilia

Severity of Hemophilia

The severity of hemophilia is determined by the level of clotting activity of factor VIII or factor IX in the blood. There are three levels of severity: mild, moderate, and severe. The following table shows the range of factor VIII and factor IX activity:

Level	Percentage of normal factor activity in blood	Number of international units (IU) per millilitre (ml) of whole blood
Normal Range	50%-150%	0.50–1.5 IU
Mild Hemophilia	5%-40%	0.05–0.40 IU
Moderate Hemophilia	1%-5%	0.01¬–0.05 IU
Severe Hemophilia	less than 1%	less than 0.01 IU

Types Of Hemophilia

Acquired Hemophilia

In rare cases, a person can develop hemophilia later in life. The majority of cases involve middle-aged or elderly people, or young women who have recently given birth or are in the later stages of pregnancy. Acquired hemophilia is usually caused by the development of antibodies to factor VIII (the body’s immune system destroys its own naturally produced factor VIII). This condition often resolves with appropriate treatment, which typically involves a combination of steroid treatment and the drug Cyclophosphamide.

There are two types of Hemophilia: Hemophilia A (Classical hemophilia) and Hemophilia B (Christmas disease).

Hemophilia A is caused by deficiency of factor VIII, and hemophilia B is caused by deficiency of factor IX.

People with severe Hemophilia usually bleed frequently into their muscles or joints. They may bleed one or two times per week. Bleeding is often spontaenous, which means the bleeding just happened with no obvious cause.

People with moderate hemophilia bleed less frequently, usually after an injury, perhaps once a month. Cases of hemophilia vary, however, and a person with moderate hemophilia can bleed spontaneously.

People with mild hemophilia usually bleed only as a result of surgery or major injury. They may never have a bleeding problem.

Severity and Type of Hemophilia

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