Genetic Disorder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Genetic Disorder - Essay Example It is possible for parents to pass this problem to their children. According to the World Federation of Hemophilia statistics, there are more than 500,000 people with hemophilia worldwide (Freedman, p45-46). Blood clotting is a result of chemical activities in the body. When one is wounded, the blood vessels are affected. Platelets clump together to begin plugging the hole. This process is called platelets adhesion. The first platelets to reach the injured area block the chemicals that draw proteins called clotting factors. As soon as the clotting factors get into the scene, they assist in the formation of fibrin, a chain of proteins. The threads of fibrin form a web of tough fibers around the platelets, holding them tightly in place. When one has hemophilia, one of the clotting factors is lacking or is not working properly. The blood clot forms are normally soft and can easily fall apart (Freedman, p48). There are two types of Hemophilia namely; hemophilia A and hemophilia B, which is the most common and both types result from a faulty gene that impedes the production of the clotting factors that permit the blood’s normal ability to clot resulting in unusual, acute bleeding tendency. Both forms of hemophilia may either be mild whereby bleeding only happens under severe stress for instance major injury, moderate where spontaneous bleeding is rare but bleeding occurs after trauma or surgery or severe whereby spontaneous bleeding is common. In spontaneous bleeding, a person bleeds in any body part especially in the spine finger-joints, feet and wrists, even with no recognizable trauma (Cutler, para2). Hemophilia is more common in males than females. The scientific explanation is that the gene for hemophilia is found in X chromosome. X chromosome determines the sex of a baby. Females have two X chromosomes while males have one Y chromosome and