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Coagulation (Blood Clotting) Disorders
Coagulation disorders refer to a set of conditions in which the blood can’t clot properly, causing either excessive blood loss or excessive blood clotting. The term “coagulation” is the medical word for clotting, the complicated process by which blood becomes solid to stop hemorrhaging, which is excessive bleeding.
While most people take for granted the fact that they stop bleeding and develop scabs for even the most mundane cuts and injuries, the manner in which blood coagulates involves a series of complex mechanisms that rely on the various building blocks of blood, especially plasma and blood platelets.
When any step of the clotting process is disrupted or when the basic components of blood become imbalanced, coagulation disorders arise.
Because a variety of factors can upset the blood clotting process and, therefore, cause coagulation disorders, both the symptoms of and treatments for them vary widely, depending on both the type of disorder that patients have, as well as the severity of each patient’s particular case. For example, while a mild coagulation disorder may only make a patient more susceptible to bruising, more serious cases can cause potentially fatal internal bleeding.
In this section, we will outline some of the most common and more serious coagulation disorders. Our articles describe the causes, symptoms and treatments associated with each condition.
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