Advocacy, Education, Support
History Of Hemophilia
1803
Dr. John Conrad Otto recognized a bleeding condition was hereditary and affected males. He traced it back to a woman who settled near Plymouth, New Hampshire in 1720.
1828
The word “Hemophilia” is first used to describe a bleeding disorder condition at the University of Zurich.
1837
Queen Victoria of England was a carrier of the hemophilia gene, which was passed to several royal families. See graphic below.
1925
von Willebrand disease was first recognized by Finnish physician Erik von Willebrand.
1937
Doctors learned clotting problems could be corrected by adding platelet-free plasma, which was called “anti-hemophilic globulin.”
1944
Recognition of hemophilia A and hemophilia B as two distinct diseases by Dr. Pavlosky came after he identified two patients each deficient in different proteins.
1950s – 1960s
Whole blood or fresh plasma were used to treat hemophilia and other bleeding problems. These treatments lacked enough factor VIII or IX proteins to stop serious bleeds.
1965
Dr. Judith Graham Pool found that cryoprecipitate contained a significant amount of factor that could be used to control severe bleeding. The need for high-volume whole plasma transfusions for people with hemophilia was eliminated.
1970
Freeze-dried powdered concentrates containing factor VIII and IX became available by the 1970s
1980
HIV/AIDS could be transmitted through the use of blood and blood products. About half of the U.S. population with hemophilia became HIV-infected and thousands would die.
1992
The first recombinant factor VIII product was approved by the FDA.
1997
The first factor IX product was granted FDA Approval.
1990s
Prophylactic (a preventative treatment plan) in children with hemophilia became more common in the mid 1990s.