This week after watch the movie I decided to research a bit about Hemophilia in children. During the outbreak of HIV/AIDS almost all hemophiliacs contracted the virus.This is scary! What do I mean by scary? hmmm the fact that these children are born with a need, but can have the chance to get more than they ever needed.
Hemophilia
What is Hemophilia?
The human blood in all of us has proteins that are known as the clotting factors. These clotting factors help stop bleeding and allow the blood vessel to heal."The last step in the clotting process (also called coagulation) is the creation of a "net" that closes the torn blood vessel and stops the bleeding" (Griffin, 2007). This part of the process involves clotting factors VIII and IX (Griffin, 2007). People with this disease lack on of the clotting factors, which makes their blood not able to clot properly.
"Hemophilia A, also known as factor VIII deficiency, is the cause of about 80% of cases. Hemophilia B, which makes up the majority of the remaining 20% of cases, is a deficiency of factor IX"(Griffin, 2007).
Patients can have a mild, moderate, or severe case of Hemophilia. This all depends on the amount of factor in the blood.
"A patient whose blood tests suggest severe hemophilia will usually bleed frequently, whereas another patient with a milder form will usually bleed only rarely. However, there is a range of severity within each group. The reasons for this variability may relate to other clotting factors or to differences in behaviors that present different risks of injury" (Griffin, 2007).
Can you imagine being a little kid and not being able to enjoy you life like the other little kids in the playground?
"Currently, about 17,000 people in the United States have hemophilia. About 1 in every 5,000 boys is born with hemophilia; girls are more rarely affected by this genetic condition linked to gender" (Griffin, 2007).
Signs and Symptoms of Hemophilia
The signs and symptoms vary depending on the severity of the factor missing."Once babies with hemophilia begin crawling and cruising, parents may notice raised bruises on the stomach, chest, buttocks, and back" (Griffin, 2007). The brusies tend to appear in unlikely places , and parents might be suspected of abuse.
Diagnosing Hemophilia
Doctors using do a set of blood test on the child. The test include a complete blood count (CBC), prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (PTT), factor VIII level, and factor IX level.
Treating Hemophila
Hemophilia is a lifelong condition with no cure (other than liver transplantation), it can be successfully managed with clotting factor replacement therapy (Griffin, 2007).The patient has to have periodic infusions of the deficient clotting factor in their blood. "Factor replacement may be given through an intravenous (IV) line either at the hematology clinic or at home by a visiting nurse or by parents (and even older patients) who have undergone special training" (Griffin, 2007). The doctors will also teach the parent how to correctly inject your child
Griffin,S.(2007). Hemophila. Retreived October 6, 2009,from,http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/genetic/hemophilia.html
I just wanted to write about this disease to outline a disease that can mean a way of contracting a killer.In the late 1970's until the mid-1980's, the clotting factor concentrates also contained H.I.V.
each dose of which is extracted from the blood of as many as 2,000 donors.
DYK: I found a very interesting organization that advocates people to adopt children with HIV/AIDS. The founding family adopted two children who were thought to have HIV due to their mother having AIDS the the possibility of antibodies passing. Well, their children were positive and now they help other families see that HIV/AIDS orphans deserve a chance. These are all innocent children who didn't have a choice in getting the virus just like hemphiliacs it is a disease that decided for them.
They have recruited over 1000 families from all the 50 states and even 13 countries. WOW! It is amazing to know that many people care for children no matter there HIV status.
http://www.aidskids.org/
The hemophiliac, David, in the common threads video was the person that really moved me the most. I feel so bad for the poor guy, I can't imagine growing up knowing that my life was going to end soon. When the innocent die young, there is nothing more saddening. Those films showed a side of the virus that I hope I never have to see... the effects of HIV on those close to you.
ReplyDeleteSarai, HIV/AIDS does have a face. Everyone person that contracts it has a story, and the have someone that cares about them. Common Threads also made me realize that. I was shocked to see the pain all of these families go through that have to deal with the death of a HIV/AIDS person. The hemophiliac boys that were judged because of contracting HIV/AIDS infuriated me. They just wanted to be treated normal and not like a leper. They were someones sons and someones best friend. I got just the same emotions as you did from watching the movie.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that there are organizations that help children who are HIV positive. It is difficult to deal with this type of thing at such a young age, especially dealing with the way it was contracted.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Common Threads was a great movie and it really puts things into perspective. It was difficult watching David deal with his condition and the way it affected his mother.
I also found myslef getting emtionally envolved in these movies. At some parts I wished I could grab a sign and start picketting with them. The films actually showed me how much of a social and political virus HIV is. No I say is because it continues to infect our livelyhood.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that UNAIDS had a project in place to keep the transmisson of HIV from mother to baby from happening. I did not know however that there were children that needed to cared for once their mothers had passed. Thank You
Imagine if every student who graduated from this class adopted a child with HIV when they were older and able to care for a child. Imagine what that would do for all the children who were born testing positive and find themselves with no family. Thank you for the link to the organization.
ReplyDelete