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Hemophiliac children should use caution when exercising, study says

10.10.2012

Findings appearing in the latest edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association show that some small risk is attached to vigorous exercise for children and teenagers with the condition of hemophilia.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that today, hemophiliacs live far more normal lives than they have historically. However, they still run a risk of developing inhibitors - a type of internal resistance to medicines designed to help their blood clot. Hemophiliacs with inhibitors are 200 percent more prone to requiring emergency medicine from members of emergency room staffing during a visit to the hospital.

Between 2008 and 2010, research was conducted on 104 hemophiliac boys between the ages of 4 and 18 in Australia. Each child was monitored for a year each, and when they experienced a bleeding episode, they were asked how much, if any, physical activity they endeavored eight hours before bleeding. The severity of each individual case of hemophilia was taken into account.

Types of physical activity were put into categories according to how demanding they are. For example, the scientists labeled swimming a category 1 activity, basketball a category 2 and wrestling a category 3. The more energy children had to expel, the more likely they were to experience a bleeding episode, however the quantifiable risk wasn't significant enough for any parents or hemophiliacs to worry about.

"To illustrate absolute risk increase, for a child who bleeds 5 times annually and is exposed on average to category 2 activities twice weekly and to category 3 activities once weekly, exposure to these activities was associated with only 1 of the 5 annual bleeds," wrote the study authors. "Physical activity is associated with an increased risk of bleeds in children and adolescents with moderate or severe hemophilia A or B. However, for most children, the absolute increase in risk is likely to be low."

More info regarding Australian hemophilia study
Health Day News reported on these findings, citing an accompanying editorial by Marilyn Manco-Johnson, a pediatric hematologist from Children's Hospital Colorado. According to the news source, she wrote that blood protein replacement treatment has greatly lessened the damage an injury can cause to a hemophiliacs, and youngsters with the condition may actually want to exercise more than children without any blood disorders. The medical expert wrote that hemophiliacs must push themselves a bit more to develop strong muscles.

Categories: Health and Wellness 

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