Bleeding Disorders are a group of conditions that affects the way your blood should normally clot. While most bleeding disorders are inherited they can rarely develop later in life when your body develops an excess of antibodies that then fight against the blood’s natural clotting factors.
Signs & Symptoms
Common signs of bleeding disorders include unexplained and easy bruising, heavy menstrual bleeding, frequent nosebleeds, excessive bleeding from small cuts or an injury, bleeding gums, excessing bleeding following surgery, or bleeding into joints.
Many bleeding disorders have similar symptoms but may require different treatment.
Types of Bleeding Disorders
- Hemophilia A (Factor VIII deficiency)
- Hemophilia B (Factor IX deficiency)
- Hemophilia C (Factor XI deficiency)
- von Willebrand’s disease (types I, II, III, aVWS, and pseudo-VWD)
- Factor I (FI / Fibrinogen) deficiency
- Factor II (FII) deficiency
- Factor V (FV) deficiency
- Factor VII (FVII) deficiency
- Factor X (FX) deficiency
- Factor XII (FXII) deficiency
- Factor XIII (FXIII) deficiency
- Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
- Acquired platelet function defects
- Congenital platelet function defects
- Congenital protein C or S deficiency
- Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)
- Glanzmann disease
Treatment
Bleeding disorders aren’t typically curable, but symptoms can be relieved with a few simple treatment options.
Your doctor may prescribe iron supplements to reduce the effects of iron deficiency anemia which can often occur due to significant blood loss. This condition can make you feel weak, tired, dizzy.
If symptoms aren’t improved with iron supplements, your doctor may order a blood transfusion. This would replace any lost blood with blood taken from a donor and must be done in a hospital.
Other treatments included topical products, nasal sprays, and injections that are specific to the disorder.
Other Complications
While there are various symptoms that can occur from bleeding disorders there are also other conditions that can arise such as joint damage, infections and inhibitors which are antibodies your body creates in response to a blood transfusion.
March is bleeding disorder awareness month, for more information on these conditions visit hemophiliafed.org
