A Guide for Families All About Hemophilia

ForewordMany parents feel overwhelmed upon discoveringthey have a child with hemophilia, even whenthere is a history of the disease in the family.All About Hemophilia – A Guide for Families is acomprehensive resource for parents, relativesand caregivers. It includes both detailed medical information andthe stories of children and families living with hemophilia. Bycombining both in one document, we hope you will be reassuredthat children living with hemophilia have a bright future.All About Hemophilia – A Guide for Families is new andcomprehensive. It is the next generation of work begun withHemophilia in Perspective, published by the Canadian HemophiliaSociety in 1993. New chapters have been added, some chaptersfrom Hemophilia in Perspective have been eliminated and othershave been combined into new chapters. The production of AllAbout Hemophilia – A Guide for Families has called upon a largenumber of health professionals, family members and peoplewith hemophilia, all with wide experience in its treatment.This process is symbolic of the comprehensive support availableto families living with hemophilia today. It also reflects thesense of community we share from coast to coast.We thank Aventis Behring Canada; Bayer, Inc.; Baxter BioScience,Canada; Novo Nordisk Canada; and Wyeth/Genetics Institute fortheir generous funding without which this document would notexist. Their support and commitment to producing All AboutHemophilia – A Guide for Families is greatly appreciated.We also thank the dedicated members of our Steering Committeewho worked diligently and put in endless hours to complete thisproject. They reviewed every word in the document. Our teamof health professionals included doctors, nurses, physiotherapistsand social workers from hemophilia treatment centres acrossCanada. Our non-medical members included parents, a personwith hemophilia and a staff member from the CanadianVIAll AboutHemophiliaAGuideforFamilies