Hemophilia is a blood disorder in which the body is unable to produce sufficient amounts of clotting factors.  People missing Factor 8 have hemophilia A while people missing Factor 9 have hemophilia B.  Without sufficient levels of these clotting factors, a person is more prone to severe bleeding and injury.  Since the blood does not coagulate fast enough, it takes longer for the bleeding to stop and can lead to swelling and discomfort.  Usually, but not always, bleeding occurs into joints such as knees, elbows, ankles etc.  Over time it can result in extensive joint damage.  Although hemophilia A and B make up the majority of the majority of the hemophilia population, there are several more clotting factors that can cause more rare types of hemophilia.  Camp High Hopes has, on occasion, had people with these problems at Camp and we welcome them in the future.

 

von Willebrand Disease (vWD) is the most common inherited bleeding disorder in humans.  People with vWD either do not have enough of a multimeric plasma protein in their blood, or they may have a structural abnormality of the protein itself.  This protein is called the von Willebrand factor.  In many people with vWD, Factor 8 is also at a low level or does not function as it should.  It is common for people with vWD to have a higher degree of bleeding tendency which can cause easy bruising and nose bleeds.  In some cases there may be internal and joint bleeding.

For more information about hemophilia and vWD you may want to visit some of the sites in our “Links” section.

If you have a bleeding disorder not listed please contact us to find out if you qualify to attend Camp High Hopes.

Hemophilia and von Willebrand disease

Camp High Hopes