Haemophilia
Haempohilia is a blood clotting disorder
in which one of the essential clotting factors is deficient.
There is no cure for haemophilia. It is a lifelong condition.
The bleeding is mostly internal. The deficiency in clotting
factor produces a wide range of bleeding episodes, usually into
the joints or muscles. The common belief that a person with haemophilia
gushes blood from cuts and will rapidly bleed to death is a myth.
Regular treatment is given by injecting the missing clotting
factor into veins. It is one of the most expensive diseases to
treat with current treatments costing more than A$100,000 per
year.
LCT intends to implant liver cells to treat haemophilia and
other disorders that interfere with normal liver function. The
implanted cells will produce the clotting Factor 8 whilst the
alginate coating ensures there are no unpleasant side effects
from immunosuppression drugs.
- The incidence of hemophilia A is one in 10,000 live
male births.
- About 30% of people with hemophilia did not
inherit it through their parents.
- About 17,000 Americans
have hemophilia.
- There are approximately 1,800 males who
have haemophilia in Australia
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