Living with a Bleeding Disorder

MISSION, Kan., March 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- (Family Features) Many people don't think much about whether their blood is clotting properly. However, when you have a bleeding disorder, a condition that affects the way your body controls clots, it's no small matter.

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, abnormal clotting can lead to a host of problems, including excessive bleeding after an injury or during surgery.

About 3 million people in the U.S. have bleeding disorders. Some types, such as hemophilia, are inherited, meaning a person who has it is born with it. Inherited bleeding disorders are caused by certain genes passed down from parents to children. These genes contain instructions for how to make proteins in the blood called clotting factors, which help blood clot. If there is a problem with one of these genes, such as a mutation – a change in the gene's instructions – the body may make a clotting factor incorrectly or not make it at all.

You can also have what's called an acquired bleeding disorder, meaning you develop it during your lifetime. Acquired bleeding disorders can be caused by medical conditions, medicines or something unknown. Your risk of developing a bleeding disorder depends on your age, family history, genes, sex or other medical conditions. If bleeding disorders run in your family, you may have a higher risk of developing or inheriting one.

Symptoms of a bleeding disorder may appear soon after birth or develop later in life and can include:

• Excessive bleeding or bruising, such as frequent or long nose bleeds (longer than 15 minutes) or frequent or long menstrual periods
• Petechiae, which are tiny purple, red or brown spots caused by bleeding under the skin
• Redness, swelling, stiffness or pain from bleeding into muscles or joints
• Blood in urine or stool
• Excessive umbilical stump bleeding
• Excessive bleeding during surgery or after trauma

If you believe you, or someone you care for, may have a bleeding disorder, talk to a health care provider. Your provider may make a diagnosis based on symptoms, risk factors, family history, a physical exam and diagnostic tests. Health care providers typically screen for bleeding disorders only if you have known risk factors or before certain surgeries.

How your bleeding disorder is treated depends on its type. If your disorder causes few or no symptoms, you may not need treatment. If you have symptoms, you may need daily treatment to prevent bleeding episodes or you may need it only on certain occasions, such as when you have an accident or before a planned surgery.

If you have been diagnosed with a bleeding disorder, it's important to be proactive about your health and follow your treatment plan. To lower your risk of complications:

• Receive follow-up care
• Monitor your condition
• Adopt healthy lifestyle changes

To learn more about bleeding disorders, visit nhlbi.nih.gov/health/bleeding-disorders.

A Story of Bravery, Balance and a Bleeding Disorder

There are lots of things that make Mikey White Jr. special. He's a dedicated athlete. He's determined, disciplined and optimistic. He's also living with hemophilia, a type of bleeding disorder.

White was diagnosed with hemophilia at age 3 after experiencing several severe bleeding episodes. He had to give up baseball and basketball, his passions, because of the high risk of injuries, but he found competitive swimming – and he's been breaking records ever since.

"Competitive swimming is a noncontact sport, so it complements my hemophilia while still being an intense and rigorous sport," White said.

Being an athlete with hemophilia requires support, White admits. He works with his health care team and coaching staff to make sure he safely manages his condition and balances it with his training. He hopes his story encourages others living with bleeding disorders to accept and appreciate their bodies the way they are.

"It doesn't have to be a limitation," White said.

Michael French
[email protected]
1-888-824-3337
editors.familyfeatures.com

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