‘Don’t ignore abnormal bruises, bleeding’ – Local hematologist

Abnormal bleeding after minor medical procedures and bruises that cannot be accounted for are among the major signs that a person has a condition known as haemophilia.

And according to local hematologist, Dr. Kamela Bemaul-Sukhu, too often people ignore these symptoms.

World Haemophilia Day is observed on April 17 every year and this year’s theme is “Access for all: women and girls bleed too.”

This is a powerful message that emphasises the need for awareness and better diagnosis and treatment for girls and women with bleeding disorders.

Haemophilia is an inherited blood disorder where one of the factors responsible for blood clotting is missing. Blood clotting is necessary to stop persons from bleeding-out (excessively) as this can lead to death.

During an interview with the News Room on Wednesday, Dr. Bemaul-Sukhu urged persons to stop ignoring these signs.

“Because they [females] know their mother bled a lot or their sister or sibling bleeds a lot, they tend to think ‘oh well this normal.’

“I want to say to them no it’s not normal, you need to seek medical attention,” Dr. Bemaul-Sukhu said.

She explained that heavy bleeding during menstruation should not be accepted as a normal symptom.

She added that this disorder is extremely underdiagnosed. Males who have this disorder often notice signs of excessive bleeding during minor procedures such as tooth extractions and may later on develop joint disorders.

It is important that these symptoms are noticed early on and attention is given to these persons to avoid medical issues later on.

“For example, you may have a child who started walking, fall, hit [somewhere], usually you wouldn’t see a black and blue but if you see it happen with your child, every time they fall, they have a big black and blue or their joint is swollen, then these are definitely red flags that you should start thinking that maybe something is not right here,” the hematologist said.

She said that in many instances the patients will visit health centres and later, the hospital where they are diagnosed and can have access to treatment to help with the severe bleeding.

“Severe types of haemophilia affects mostly males and these patients will have bleeding mostly into the joints. So after time of getting bleeding from time to time, then they end up getting deformity of the joints,” she said.

A doctor treating patients with hemophilia will use medications that can reduce the bleeding. A product known as ‘factor’’ concentrates are given to these patients to prevent bleeding further complications can occur. The costly treatment options for hemophilia are donated by the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH).