What inherited disease impairs the blood's ability to clot properly?

• A. Leukaemia
• B. Thrombocytopathy
• C. Haemophilia
• D. Sickle Cell Disease

Answer: (C)

Clotting depends on a sequence of clotting factors working together to form a stable fibrin clot after platelets plug the vessel. When a congenital defect hits that cascade, the blood cannot clot properly. Haemophilia is an inherited disorder where the body lacks or has defective clotting factors (most commonly factor VIII or IX). Because the missing factor slows fibrin formation, bleeding takes longer to stop and can occur in joints or muscles after minor injuries. It’s inherited—typically X-linked recessive—so it mainly affects males, with females usually carriers. This makes haemophilia the classic inherited cause of impaired clotting.

Leukaemia is a cancer of blood cells and isn’t primarily about clotting. Sickle cell disease is a hemoglobin problem that affects red cells, not the clotting cascade. Thrombocytopathy can involve platelet function or production and can impair clotting, but the description most consistently points to haemophilia as the inherited clotting disorder.