By Nathan Fligelman

March is Bleed Disorders Awareness Month, which calls attention to inheritable blood and bleeding disorders like hemophilia and von Willebrand disease.

Bleeding disorders are conditions in which blood cannot clot properly within a human body. Normal clotting involves the grouping together of platelets, which are critical cellular components within our blood. Platelets form a bandage-like cover to prevent excessive blood loss when a blood vessel is damaged. When you have a cut, platelets are what coagulate (join together) to prevent the blood from leaking out of your body. For people with a bleeding disorder, platelets malfunction, making it hard to prevent blood loss when a body is injured.  

Hemophilia and von Willebrand disease are the most common bleeding disorders in the U.S. Hemophilia is a rare, inherited bleeding disorder that can range from mild to severe, depending on how much clotting factor is present in the blood. Hemophilia is classified as type A or type B, based on which type of clotting factor is missing. Von Willebrand disease is an inherited condition that results when the blood lacks functioning von Willebrand factor, a protein that helps the blood to clot and also carries another clotting protein, factor VIII.

Patients with moderate to severe bleeding disorders may require transfusions of blood, platelets or clotting factors. Clotting factors may be donated human blood products or lab-synthesized proteins. Patients with severe bleeding disorders may receive clotting factor transfusions as a preventive measure. While there are no cures at present for bleeding disorders, gene therapies are being developed.

Platelet donations are often a lifesaving treatment for people with bleeding disorders. During a platelet donation, an apheresis machine collects your platelets along with some plasma, returning your red cells and most of the plasma back to you. A single donation of platelets can yield several transfusable units.

Platelets are collected at American Red Cross Blood Donation Centers only and are not collected at mobile blood drives. In Southeastern Pennsylvania, you can donate platelets in Horsham, West Chester and Philadelphia. Platelets have a shelf life of only 5 days from donation to transfusion, so they are always in great need. Learn more about platelet donations, then schedule an appointment to donate.