[Haemophilia--then and now]

Haemophilia is a bleeding disorder which has always attracted wide interest both among physicians and the laity--uncontrollable haemorrhage, blood that fails to coagulate and heredity with only males affected. The disease is probably best known to the public through its appearance in European royal families and in the Russian Imperial family. The oldest known description of haemophilia is to be found in the Talmud, the collection of ancient Judaic books from the early centuries of our era. The first clinical account of haemophilia was published by the American, Otto, in 1803. He described the disease as an inheritable bleeding disorder occurring only in males, and transmitted by female carriers who are not themselves affected. The disease manifests itself in early childhood, joint bleedings being its most characteristic feature. Otto called the male patients "bleeders". The term, haemophilia, originated with a German, Friedrich Hopff (1828), who coined the name "haemorrhaphilia" which was later abbreviated to haemophilia. ... As to future prospects, it is hoped that it will soon be possible to cure the disease by means of gene therapy, and to this end promising experimental work is already in progress.