Hemophilia in the Royal Family essays

Hemophilia in the Royal Family essays Hemophilia is a genetic disorder passed from one generation to the next through the X (female) chromosome. It is a disease in which the blood does not clot normally, due to abnormalities in some blood proteins that cause clotting. People with hemophilia (hemophiliacs) have blood that clots very slowly. They are in constant danger of bleeding to death, even if they have a minor injury. Surgery or even dental work can also be very risky. Although women transmit the disease, only men can exhibit it. Women who carry hemophilia (carriers) have the gene on one of their X chromosomes. Since the gene is recessive, they do not have the disorder. But if a male has the bad gene, then he will be a hemophiliac because there is no matching gene on his Y chromosome to be dominant to it. Females must have the gene on both X chromosomes to have hemophilia. In the past, most hemophiliacs died young, but today, they can be treated with blood transfusions. The following is a chart of the hemop hilia trait in one family over two generations. Hemophilia is often called the disease of kings because it was carried by many members of Europes royal family. Queen Victoria of England was a carrier of hemophilia and passed the disease to many of her descendants including the Russian emperors family and the Spanish royal family). Victoria bore nine children. The first two, Victoria and Edward, were perfectly healthy. The third, Alice, and the ninth, Beatrice, were carriers of the hemophilia gene. The eighth, Leopold, was a hemophiliac. He married the German princess Helen of Waldeck, but they had just two years of happiness. Gambling in Cannes, Leopold fell, hit his head, and died of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 31. Victorias youngest daughter, Beatrice, passed the hemophilia gene on to her daughter, Victoria-Eugenie, who married King Alfonso XIII of Spain. Of the four sons she bore him, two, Alfonso, who later became King, a...