Do you know what bleeding disorder is?
If you don’t, no need to worry! April 17 is World Hemophilia Day, and it’s time to spread some knowledge about bleeding disorders!
Like the name suggests, it’s a condition that makes it difficult for the blood to clot. But did you know that there are several different types of bleeding disorders that affect people in different ways?
What are bleeding disorders?
The most commonly known bleeding disorder is hemophilia, which is also a very rare type of bleeding disorder. The bleeding disorder that affects most people is called von Willebrand disease, and most who have it aren’t aware of it, since it’s a very mild type of bleeding disorder.
What bleeding disorders have in common is that they make it hard for bleeding to stop, which can cause problems during emergencies and surgeries. Bleeding disorders are passed down from parents to child, but can in some cases show up without any other family members having it.
Women and bleeding disorders
Many women and girls with bleeding disorders don’t actually know that they suffer from one. For many years, doctors didn’t even believe that women and girls could experience hemophilia, even if they carried the gene.
Today, doctors know that women too can have hemophilia. Knowledge about the disorder and its symptoms is, however, still low among the people who might suffer from it.
This is why this year’s World Hemophilia Day focuses its attention on how bleeding disorders affect specifically women and girls!
For women, heavy periods might be a sign of bleeding disorders. It’s therefore important to know what the symptoms are, in order to educate people about the different disorders since they can cause big problems during emergencies.