Common Questions About Bleeding Disorders

What's a Bleeding Disorder?

A bleeding disorder is a flaw in the body’s clotting system. Blood clotting (also known as coagulation) is the process that controls bleeding by changing blood from a liquid to a solid state. Certain parts of the blood are known as clotting factors. These clotting factors are missing or do not work as they should in people with bleeding disorders. This causes them to bleed for longer periods of time than people whose blood factor levels are normal or work properly. The beliefs that persons with bleeding disorders bleed to death from paper cuts or that their blood flows faster are myths.

Women with undiagnosed bleeding disorders risk life-threatening complications during childbirth, surgery, accidents, and injury as well as internal bleeding and cranial bleeds.

The most common bleeding disorder in women and girls is von Willebrand disease (VWD)---1% to 2% of the population or, approximately 1.4 to 2.8 million nationwide. VWD, which is genetically transmitted from generation to generation, is caused by a defect or deficiency of an essential blood clotting protein (von Willebrand factor).