Bleeding Disorders - Risk Factors - Risk Factors

Bleeding disorders can happen at any age. However, newborns are more likely than adults to develop vitamin K deficiency bleeding. Acquired hemophilia A is more common among older people.

Bleeding disorders may run in families. You are at an increased risk of having a bleeding disorder if one or both of your parents have the disease.

Certain diseases or medical conditions can increase your risk for an acquired bleeding disorders, such as:

• Blood transfusions
• Bowel diseases or bowel surgery
• Cancer
• Congenital or acquired heart diseases
• Hypothyroidism
• Immune disorders, including autoimmune  diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus
• Infections
• Liver disease
• Lymphoproliferative disorders, such as certain types of leukemia
• Pregnancy
• Postpartum bleeding, which can use up the body’s clotting factors too quickly
• Skin conditions
• Trauma, or severe injury, to the brain or body

Certain treatments for medical conditions can also increase risk, including:

• Antibiotics
• Blood thinner medicines, also called anticoagulants, that are used to help prevent blood clot from forming inside the blood vessels
• Devices that increase blood flow, such as ventricular assist devices
• Interferon alpha, a medicine to treat certain types of cancer
• Surgeries, such as heart surgeries that use a heart-lung bypass machine, that can lead to acquired von Willebrand disease

Hemophilia is much more common in men than in women. However, women are at increased risk for bleeding disorders, such as acquired hemophilia, during and after pregnancy.