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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.

Hemophilia

Hemophilia describes a coagulation disorder that prevents a person’s blood from clotting. This means that when a hemophiliac suffers from any injury that leaves an open wound, his body can’t naturally stop itself bleeding by forming a scab. Hemophilia is among the most common of all blood coagulation disorders.

While mild cases of hemophilia will generally only result in excessive bleeding during extreme physical trauma (such as during surgery), more serious cases of this coagulation disorder can cause patients to suffer from spontaneous bleeding, bleeding that occurs anywhere in the body independent of any injury.

Some of the more common symptoms associated with hemophilia include exaggerated pain or swelling (i.e., that which is in excess of what an injury typically warrants), as well as hematuria, visible blood in the urine. If you experience any of these symptoms, seek immediate medical attention for a proper diagnosis of hemophilia.

Von Willebrand’s Disease

As the most common of the congenital coagulation disorders, von Willebrand’s disease is a condition in which patients lack the von Willebrand factor in their blood. This component of the blood is essential to allowing platelets to stick to each other, as well as to the walls of blood vessels. A lack of the von Willebrand factor in the blood prevents the blood from being able to naturally clot.

Those who suffer from von Willebrand’s disease generally experience:

bleeding gums
heavy bleeding during menstruation
nose bleeds.

Once a proper diagnosis of this condition has been made (usually through a test that measures a person’s blood platelet count), treatment with specific prescription medication ensues. Keep in mind no cure currently exists for von Willebrand’s disease.

Henoch-Schonlein Purpura

Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a type of vasculitis, a medical term for any condition that causes blood vessel inflammation. HSP specifically targets the skin’s smaller arterial vessels, as well as the blood vessels in the kidneys and gastrointestinal tract.

In most cases, Henoch-Scholein purpura is caused by the body’s immune system having an exaggerated reaction to either a bacterial or viral infection. The swelling, skin rashes and joint pain that are symptomatic of Henoch-Scholein purpura typically affect the lower body and tend to last for anywhere between two to 12 weeks. When the underlying infection is treated (or resolves itself if it is caused by a virus), the symptoms of Henoch-Scholein purpura disappear.

Resources

Health A to Z (n.d.). Coagulation Disorders. Retrieved September 19, 2007, from the Health A to Z Web site: http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/common/standard

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coagulation_disorders.jsp.

Cleveland Clinic (2004). What You Need to Know About Henoch-Schonlein Purpura (HSP). Retrieved September 19, 2007, from the Cleveland Clinic Web site: http://www.clevelandclinic.org/arthritis/treat/facts/hsp.htm.

MedlinePlus (2006). Von Willebrand Disease. Retrieved September 19, 2007, from the U.S. National Library of Medicine Web site: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/

000544.htm#Definition.