NATIONAL CENTER FOR CASE STUDY TEACHING IN SCIENCE “Hemophilia” by Aronova-Tiuntseva and Herreid We can trace the appear-Īnce of hemophilia as it popped up in Spain, Russia, and Prussia by looking at the family tree (Figure 1 next page). Royal Houses of Europe as monarchs arranged marriages to consolidate political alliances. Mutation in either her or in a sperm of her father, Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent. Hemophilia afecting Victoria’s ofspring had nothing to do with the curse. Ited by the happy couple from the bride’s father, and cursed future generations of Coburgs with the disease. A monk, a member of the Kohary family, envied the wealth inher. Hungarian princess named Antoinette de Kohary. his curse was supposed to have dated from the early nineteenth century, when a Coburg prince had married a Yet, a whisper about the “curse of the Coburgs” was spreadĪbout. The disease did not originate in her side of the family. He appearance of hemophilia in one of Victoria’s sons upset and confused the Queen, who could only protest that However, in spite of all the protection, Prince Leopold died at the age of thirty. Normal child was impossible for Leopold because any cut or bump could lead to death and it was necessary to keep Short life, Leopold had sufered severe hemorrhages, and always was described as “very delicate.” Leading the life of a Hemophilia irst appeared in Victoria’s family in her eighth child, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. It is doubtful that at the time of writing this letter, the Queen knew exactly what was wrong with her family’s blood.

it is not as trivial as you may think, for darling Papa-often with vehemence said: ‘We must For that constant fair hair and blue eyes makes theīlood so lymphatic. In the pure Royal descent that some fresh blood was infused. Relected in her letter to her daughter Vicky: “I do wish one could ind some more black eyed Princes and Princessesįor our children! I can’t help thinking what dear Papa said-that it was in fact when there was some little imperfection Her feelings about the necessity of revitalizing what she called the “lymphatic” blood of their houses are Queen Victoria had always been worried about the quality of the blood of the British

It became known as the “Royal disease” because it spread to the royal families of Europe Hemophilia has played an important role in Europe’s history, for it suddenly cropped up in the children of Greatīritain’s Queen Victoria. Naturally, women hemophiliacs are rare because it takes two defective X chromosomes Normal blood clotting she will simply be a carrier of the recessive defective gene. If only one is defective, the other normal X chromosome can compensate. Is defective, hemophilia will immediately show up. Since males only carry one X chromosome, if that his occurs becauseĪ critical blood clotting gene is carried on the X chromosome. Hemophilia afects males much more frequently (1 in 10,000) than females (1 in 100,000,000). Occasional problems can arise because of a patient’s allergic reactions or other transfer complications. However, the treatment is very expensive and

Infusions of a blood derived substance known as antihemophilic factor. Now hemophilia is treated with blood transfusions and Internal hemorrhaging after even a minor bruise were fatal. Hemophilia was untreatable, and only a few hemophiliacs survived to reproductive age because any small cut or Hemophilia is an X-linked recessive disorder characterized by the inability to properly form blood clots. By Yelena Aronova-Tiuntseva and Clyde Freeman Herreid University at Buffalo State University of New York Hemophilia: “The Royal Disease”

Queen victoria hemophilia family tree