Hemophilia

Hemophilia was recognized as early as Biblical times when rabbis allowed infant males to be excused from circumcision if two or more of their brothers had previously suffered fatal hemorrhage from the procedure. The specific inheritance pattern of hemophilia was appreciated in 1803, and the disease was given its name by a German physician in 1828. Yet, it was just in 1937 that the disorder was identified as being secondary to deficiency of a plasma globulin rather than to a platelet or vascular abnormality. Our understanding of hemophilia began to advance rapidly in the mid-1960s with the development of plasma concentrates and improved care delivery systems. Whereas a child born with hemophilia 20 to 30 years ago could look forward only to early death or severe crippling, today with proper management such a boy may carry out a nearly normal life style and have even a normal life span.