Reviewed by Dr. Clement J. Cheng
Hemophilia is a hereditary blood coagulation disorder, caused by a deficiency of certain clotting factors. Hemophiliacs, or people who have hemophilia, have difficulty having their blood clot once they are bleeding. Hemophilia is potentially a very serious disorder that affects men more often than women.
There are two types of hemophilia: Hemophilia A and B. Hemophilia A is the most common of these disorders and is the result of a deficiency of clotting factor VIII. The disorder is an inherited genetic disorder. Hemophilia A is a sex-linked recessive trait, with the defective gene located on the X chromosome. As a result, women are the carriers of hemophilia. Half of the male offspring of female carriers have the disease and half of their female offspring are carriers. All female children of a male hemophiliac are carriers of the trait.
