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Types of Bleeding Disorders

"Bleeding disorders" is a general term for a wide range of medical problems that lead to poor clotting and continuous bleeding. Health care providers call these conditions by many different terms, including coagulopathy, abnormal bleeding, and clotting disorders. While hemophilia is the best-known bleeding disorder, many types exist, and most are inherited.

In this section, you’ll find more information about the types of bleeding disorders listed below.

  • Hemophilia: there are several types of hemophilia. The two most common are:
    • Hemophilia A (also called classic hemophilia)
    • Hemophilia B (also called Christmas disease)
  • von Willebrand disease (VWD): researchers have identified many variations of this bleeding disorder:
    • Type 1 VWD
    • Type 2 VWD (4 subtypes: subtype 2A, subtype 2B, subtype 2M, and subtype 2N) 
    • Type 3 VWD
    • Acquired VWD
  • Rare Factor Deficiencies: there are several rare, inherited bleeding disorders in which one or more clotting factors are not in the blood, are only in small amounts, or don’t work properly
  • Rare Platelet Disorders: there are several rare bleeding disorders in which platelets lack a protein needed for blood to clot. These disorders are inherited in autosomal recessive fashion

Bleeding Disorders Vary Greatly in Severity and Frequency

Each bleeding disorder has its own range of severity, which is generally categorized as mild, moderate, or severe. Approximately 20,000 individuals in the United States have hemophilia and up to 1% to 2% of the population has von Willebrand disease (VWD), the most common type of bleeding disorder. Each of these disorders causes bleeding and each can be treated.