A bleeding disorder is a condition that affects the way your blood normally clots. The clotting process, also known as coagulation, changes blood from a liquid to a solid. When you?re injured, your blood normally begins to clot to prevent a massive loss of blood. Sometimes, certain conditions prevent blood from clotting properly, which can result in heavy or prolonged bleeding.
Bleeding disorders can cause abnormal bleeding both outside and inside the body. Some disorders can drastically increase the amount of blood leaving your body. Others cause bleeding to occur under the skin or in vital organs, such as the brain.
Bleeding disorders can be inherited or acquired. Inherited disorders are passed down through genetics. Acquired disorders can develop or spontaneously occur later in life. Some bleeding disorders can result in severe bleeding following an accident or injury. In other disorders, heavy bleeding can happen suddenly and for no reason.
There are numerous different bleeding disorders, but the following are the most common ones:
The liver is an organ about the size of a football. It sits just under your rib cage on the right side of your abdomen. The liver is essential for digesting food and ridding your body of toxic substances.
Liver disease can be inherited (genetic). Liver problems can also be caused by a variety of factors that damage the liver, such as viruses, alcohol use and obesity.
Over time, conditions that damage the liver can lead to scarring (cirrhosis), which can lead to liver failure, a life-threatening condition. But early treatment may give the liver time to heal.
Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside some of your bones, such as your hip and thigh bones. It contains stem cells. The stem cells can develop into the red blood cells that carry oxygen through your body, the white blood cells that fight infections, and the platelets that help with blood clotting.
With bone marrow disease, there are problems with the stem cells or how they develop:
In leukemia, a cancer of the blood, the bone marrow makes abnormal white blood cells In aplastic anemia, the bone marrow doesn't make red blood cells In myeloproliferative disorders, the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells Other diseases, such as lymphoma, can spread into the bone marrow and affect the production of blood cells
