Bleeding Disorder
Information
"Bleeding disorders" is a general term for a wide range of medical problems that lead to poor clotting and prolonged bleeding. Health care providers call these conditions by many different terms, including coagulopathy, abnormal bleeding, and clotting disorders. While hemophilia is the best-known bleeding disorder, many types exist, and most are inherited.
Hemophilia:
Hemophilia A (also called classic hemophilia): This type is caused by a lack or decrease of clotting factor VIII (8)
Hemophilia B (also called Christmas disease): This type is caused by a lack or decrease of clotting factor IX (9)
Von Willebrand Disease (VWD):
VWD is a disorder that is caused by a problem with one of the proteins in the blood (von Willebrand factor or vWF). People with VWD either don’t have enough vWF or what they have doesn’t work properly.
Rare Factor Deficiencies:
There are several rare, inherited bleeding disorders in which one or more clotting factors are low, missing, or don’t work properly.
Bleeding Disorders Vary Greatly in Severity and Frequency:
Each bleeding disorder has its own range of severity, which is generally categorized as mild, moderate, or severe. Approximately 20,000 individuals in the United States have hemophilia and up to 1% to 2% of the population has von Willebrand disease (VWD), the most common type of bleeding disorder. Each of these disorders causes bleeding and each can be treated.
Types of Bleeding Disorders: Retrieved from: https://stepsforliving.hemophilia.org
