hemophilia
noun
Note: Hemophilia is inherited as an X-linked recessive trait in which the mother must pass on a copy of the defective gene to a male child, and more rarely, both parents must pass on copies of the defective gene to a female child.
see hemophilia a, hemophilia b
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The dreaded disease known as hemophilia is the result of an inherited gene, and almost always strikes boys rather than girls (though mothers may pass the gene to their sons). Since the blood lacks an ingredient that causes it to clot or coagulate when a blood vessel breaks, even a minor wound can cause a hemophiliac to bleed to death if not treated. Bleeding can be particularly dangerous when it's entirely internal, with no visible wound, since the person may not be aware it's happening. Queen Victoria transmitted the hemophilia gene to royal families all across Europe; the hemophilia of a young Russian prince played a part in the downfall of the Russian czars. Today, hemophiliacs take drugs that stop the bleeding by speeding coagulation, and hemophiliac life expectancies in developed countries are almost as long as the average.
Examples of hemophilia in a Sentence
Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2024
Her proposal to study fetal cell and gene therapies for hemophilia in sheep — a step toward clinical trials — had been rejected by the NIH.
—Megan Molteni, STAT, 21 Feb. 2024
According to Azar, even though scientists have known about the genetic cause of sickle cell disease for over 100 years, population studies on the illness are far behind other chronic congenital diseases like cystic fibrosis or hemophilia.
—Tesfaye Negussie, ABC News, 11 Nov. 2023
People with bleeding disorders such as hemophilia or anyone taking blood thinners should avoid acupuncture; as should anyone with a pacemaker since even mild electrical pulses can potentially interfere with its operation.
—Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 25 July 2023
For more than 30 years, companies jostled to get a piece of the drug development action in other areas of rare genetic disease — for cystic fibrosis, say, or for hemophilia — but conditions like Dravet got short shrift.
—Elie Dolgin, Discover Magazine, 26 Apr. 2023
Too high of a dose could cause blood clotting; too low could fail to adequately treat the hemophilia condition.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 July 2022
People who have 5% to 30% of the normal amount of clotting factors in their blood typically are considered to have mild hemophilia.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 July 2022
As a young teen in 1984, he was diagnosed with HIV after receiving contaminated blood products to treat his hemophilia.
—Mj Slaby, The Indianapolis Star, 27 July 2021
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Cite this Entry
“Hemophilia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hemophilia. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hemophilia
noun
Medical Definition
hemophilia
nounNote: Hemophilia is inherited as an X-linked recessive trait in which the mother must pass on a copy of the defective gene to a male child, and more rarely, both parents must pass on copies of the defective gene to a female child.
see hemophilia a, hemophilia b compare von willebrand disease
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