Personal Health; Dangers of a little-known clotting disorder. New York Time
MOST people know of the inherited bleeding disorder hemophilia. But von Willebrand's disease, a far more common clotting disorder, is little known. Hemophilia afflicts one man in 10,000, but von Willebrand's may affect as many as one in 100 men and women, often causing frequent nosebleeds, bleeding gums, easy bruising and excessive menstrual flow.