There is a famous movie star who had been posting videos of his mother on the internet. The videos involve everyday conversations that take place in every home. Quite often the actor’s brother and his family feature in the videos too. In more than one video, the actor and his mother have talked about how often his brother gets injured and is prone to bleeding with even the smallest of cuts and injuries. They mostly laugh that away. Well, with many people this tendency of bleeding is far more excessive than the actor’s brother who is being discussed here. The reason for this could be a blood clotting disorder. The blood of some people does not clot fast resulting in heavy bleeding that can last for long. This condition is known as hemophilia. There are mild, moderate and severe haemophilia. Severe problems get identified in childhood itself. 

In a conversation with Medicircle, Dr. Ankit Raiyani, Consultant Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant Physician associated with Qure Hematology-Oncology Centre, mentions “Whenever a child is born, in the first six to seven months, the child is immobile so the signs and symptoms of hemophilia do not get evident. Once the child starts crawling and starts banging his or her head or bangs his knees, then swelling or hematomas start getting evident. Knees may swell up, elbows may swell up and the patient might get bruises on the forehead or any other place of the body. This is a common situation. During vaccination, these patients have more tendency of hematoma formation. So, there may be swelling at the injection site. So, these are the initial symptoms. When the child matures and puts on weight the symptoms may start getting even more severe.”

Early diagnosis in any medical condition is good. The same applies to hemophilia. In a conversation with Medicircle, Dr. Sweta Bansal, Consultant Pediatric Hemato Oncologist and BMT Physician at Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre points out, “Severity of the disease depends on the percentage of the clotting factor which is present. If you have less than 1% of the clotting factor in your body, it can be very severe, and can also lead to death. They can have bleeding in their joints, deep tissues, gastrointestinal tract, or it could be intracranial bleeding. So, they can bleed anywhere in the body. While in the cases of mild and moderate hemophilia, they don't bleed spontaneously. They bleed only if there is some injury or surgery done to them. Diagnosing hemophilia is very important and treatment is also easy.” 

Parents of children should have the know-how of this blood disorder even if it is at a mild stage and get corrective steps taken. Diagnosis in the earlier stage of life itself is important so that even when there is a major injury or surgery, later on in life, doctors are well prepared to go ahead with the procedures knowing that the patient can profusely bleed. They can be ready with an adequate amount of blood. Early diagnosis also helps in timely treatment which can prevent worst situations.