What is a bleeding disorder?
A bleeding disorder is a health problem that makes it hard for a person to stop bleeding. Normally when a person is hurt, a clot forms to stop the bleeding quickly. This clotting process, called coagulation (koh-ag-yuh-LAY-shuhn), changes blood from a liquid to a solid state. For blood to clot, your body needs a type of blood cell called platelets. Your body also needs blood proteins called clotting factors. In people with bleeding disorders, the platelets or clotting factors do not work in the right way or are in short supply. So, these people bleed longer than normal. With treatment people with bleeding disorders can lead full and active lives. Bleeding disorders tend to run in families. Women normally bleed with menstruation and childbirth, so it may be hard to notice abnormal bleeding. In the United States, 1.5 to 4 million women have a bleeding disorder. And up to 2 million American women have a bleeding disorder and don’t know it.
Simply put a bleeding disorder is where your blood does not clot properly. There are two sides to the coin. One is where your blood clots too well, this is called Thrombosis. The other side is when blood does not clot well enough, this is called Hemostasis. On this site we are looking to find a solution to women that bleed too much.
A bleeding disorder is a disease in which the body can’t form blood clots properly or quickly enough in order to stop bleeding. von Willebrand disease (VWD) is an inherited bleeding disorder. In most cases, a person inherits VWD from a parent; in rare cases, VWD can be acquired.1 Learn more about von Willebrand disease.
A bleeding disorder is a health problem that makes it hard for a person to stop bleeding. Normally when a person is hurt, a clot forms to stop the bleeding quickly. This clotting process, called coagulation (koh-ag-yuh-LAY-shuhn), changes blood from a liquid to a solid state. For blood to clot, your body needs a type of blood cell called platelets. Your body also needs blood proteins called clotting factors. In people with bleeding disorders, the platelets or clotting factors do not work in the right way or are in short supply. So, these people bleed longer than normal. With treatment people with bleeding disorders can lead full and active lives. Bleeding disorders tend to run in families. Women normally bleed with menstruation and childbirth, so it may be hard to notice abnormal bleeding. In the Untied States, 1.5 to 4 million women have a bleeding disorder. And up to 2 million American women have a bleeding disorder and don’t know it.
