Blood and Bleeding Disorders Quiz

Healthy red blood cells are round. In a person with sickle cell disease (SCD), the red blood cells become hard and sticky and look like a C-shaped farm tool called a "sickle." Sickle cells die early, causing a constant shortage of red blood cells.

Bone marrow or stem cell transplants can cure sickle cell disease in some patients.

A pain episode or crisis is the most common symptom of sickle cell disease (sickle cell anemia), and it's the top reason that people with the disease go to the emergency room or hospital. When sickle cells travel through small blood vessels, they can get stuck and clog the blood flow. This causes pain that can start suddenly, be mild to severe, and last for any length of time.

Hemophilia is not one disease but rather one of a group of inherited bleeding disorders that cause abnormal or exaggerated bleeding and poor blood clotting. For example, there is Hemophilia A (lack of clotting factor VIII), Hemophilia B (lack of clotting factor IX) and Von Willebrand disease (lack of Von Willebrand clotting factor).

Hemophilia is a common inherited bleeding disorder. Hemophilia occurs in one of every 5,000 male births. Currently, about 20,000 males in the U.S. have the disorder. Females who inherit one affected X chromosome become a "carrier" of hemophilia.

Menorrhagia refers to heavy menstrual bleeding. Menorrhagia can be incapacitating for some women and may suggest a bleeding disorder.

A pulmonary embolism clogs the artery that provides blood supply to part of the lung. The embolism not only prevents the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, but it also decreases blood supply to the lung tissue itself, potentially causing lung tissue to die.

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is most closely related to deep vein thrombosis (DVT). DVT/PE is an underdiagnosed, serious, preventable medical condition that occurs when a blood clot forms in a deep vein. These clots usually develop in the lower leg, thigh, or pelvis, but they can also occur in the arm. In more than one-third of people affected by DVT, clots can travel to the lungs and cause PE, a potentially fatal condition.

The normal life span of a red blood cell is typically around 100-120 days (about four months).

Anemia is a medical condition in which the red blood cell count or hemoglobin is less than normal.

The terms septic shock and sepsis are often used interchangeably with the term septicemia, a serious, life-threatening blood infection that worsens very quickly and is often fatal.

Hemochromatosis (HE-mo-kro-ma-TO-sis) is a disease in which too much iron builds up in the body (iron overload). Iron is a mineral found in many foods. Too much iron is toxic to the body. It can poison organs and cause organ failure. In hemochromatosis, iron can build up in most of the body's organs but especially in the liver, heart, and pancreas.