According to researchers in the United States many women suffer from bleeding disorders, but are unaware they have one because doctors are not looking for the condition.
But that is about to change as an international group of experts have produced an outline of the definitive signs that may signal the presence of a bleeding disorder in women and the new guidelines are not just aimed at doctors as the authors say women who suffer from heavy menstrual cycles should also be on the lookout for the signs.
Dr. Andra James, an obstetrician at Duke University Medical Center, says about 25% of women with heavy menstruation may have an undiagnosed bleeding disorder and she says heavy bleeding should never be ignored.
Dr. James, the paper's lead author says when a woman's blood cannot clot normally the most obvious sign is a heavy period yet when faced with this scenario, most doctors do not suspect a blood clotting problem is to blame.
Dr. James says sometimes the culprit is suspected to be hormones or fibroids and in some cases the removal of the uterus is recommended or another gynecologic explanation when the real contributing factor is a blood clotting disorder.
Dr. James says research has shown that women who were ultimately treated for a bleeding disorder reported waiting 16 years, on average, before being properly diagnosed and in extreme cases, the undiagnosed bleeding disorders have led to women bleeding to death during menstruation, childbirth and surgical procedures.
Dr. James says the most common inherited bleeding disorder is von Willebrand disease, of which she has expert knowledge and common criteria for diagnosis include the presence of a family history of bleeding, personal history of bleeding and laboratory tests that indicate the lack of a protein called von Willebrand factor which is essential for clotting.