Hemophilia What Should Be Done? 1. Prevention Of Bleeding Is

HEMOPHILIA What should be done? 1. Prevention of bleeding is of first importance. The afflicted person should be protected from injury as far as possible, and no surgical operation should be attempted without careful preparatory treatment. 2. If bleeding occurs from any body surface that can be reached, use cephalin-impregnated gauze and apply pressure until the bleeding stops. 3. If the bleeding is severe, call a physician at once, who will arrange for a blood transfusion; this will probably check the bleeding for the time being. There is no known permanent cure. Hemophilia is a peculiar disease, the sufferers from which are called “bleeders”. It is strictly hereditary. The typical condition always occurs in men and boys, never in girls and women. It is transmitted directly from father to son, but always through the mother. That is, a man who is a “bleeder” may have sons, but they will not be “bleeders”; he may have daughters but they will not be “bleeders”; but the sons of his daughters will probably be “bleeders”. Symptoms. Hemophilia shows itself markedly in childhood, and gradually becomes less severe with advancing age, unless the patient dies in the meantime. There is a tendency to bleed for a long period from even a trifling injury. Persons afflicted with hemophilia have bled to death following the extraction of a tooth. Sometimes the attack of bleeding begins without apparent cause. Bleeding into joints is common, with consequent pain, tenderness, and sometimes longcontinued disability, sometimes giving rise to a suspicion of infectious arthritis.