You may not have heard of Von Willebrand disease, but it is a serious bleeding disorder. It prevents your blood from clotting properly.
Usually when you cut yourself, blood cell fragments called platelets bunch together to fill the gap in your blood vessel. When your blood doesnt clot, which can happen with von Willebrand disease, you are at risk of bleeding so heavily that the flow of blood does not stop. This type of bleeding can damage your internal organs and in rare cases may be fatal.
The disease concerns the protein in the blood that helps healing. The protein is called von Willebrand factor and its essential for effective blood clotting. Von Willebrand factor also contains a blood clotting aid called factor VIII. In regular cases of bleeding, the von Willebrand factor helps stick the platelets together to form a blood clot. People with von Willebrand disease have either a small amount of the von Willebrand factor or they have a problem with the way this protein works.
There are three major types of von Willebrand disorder; Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3. The difference depends on the levels of von Willebrand factor and factor VIII proteins that exist in the blood.
Type 1 is the mildest and most common form, where there is a low level of von Willebrand factor and there may also be a low level of factor VIII. Around three quarters of sufferers have this type.
