a bleeding disorder is a health problem that makes it difficult for a person to stop bleeding normally when a person is hurt, a blood clot forms to stop the bleeding quickly. For blood to clot, your body needs a type of blood cell called platelets and blood proteins called clotting factors.

 If you have a bleeding disorder, your platelets or clotting factors do not work correctly  your body does not make enough platelets or clotting factors. This makes it easy for too much bleeding to happen during normal bodily functions such as a menstrual period. People with a bleeding disorder can also bleed too much or for too long after an injury, dental work, childbirth, or surgery.

 Bleeding disorders affect both women and men. But bleeding disorders can cause more problems for women because of heavy bleeding during menstrual periods and the risk of dangerous bleeding after childbirth.

 It might. As many as one in 10 women with heavy periods may have some type of bleeding disorder.1

But other causes of heavy periods include:

• Certain health problems. Heavy bleeding can be a sign of thyroid problems or uterine fibroids. 
• Reproductive problems. In a normal menstrual cycle, your body discards your uterine lining with each period. If your hormones get out of balance or if you do not ovulate, the uterine lining can build up too much. This can cause heavy bleeding as the lining is discarded during the next menstrual period.
•  Certain medicines. Some anti-inflammatory medicines and blood thinners can lead to heavy or long periods.

 Talk to your doctor or nurse if you have heavy periods.

 Your menstrual period is heavy if you:

• Soak through a pad or tampon every hour or two
•  have menstrual bleeding for more than 7 days in a row
•  have menstrual blood with clots larger than a quarter

 Menstrual blood is a combination of tissues and blood, so it often comes out in large clumps or clots. These clots are different from the clotting factors that your body needs to help stop bleeding from a cut or other injury. Having many large menstrual blood clots (larger than a quarter) in your menstrual flow is a sign of abnormal or heavy bleeding.

 Women with heavy menstrual bleeding often have to change their daily activities because of the bleeding. If you have to change your regular work or school schedule or activities because of too much bleeding during your period, then you probably have heavy menstrual bleeding that is not normal.

 Talk to your doctor or nurse if you think you have heavy bleeding. Your doctor will want to do tests to find out what is causing the heavy bleeding. Treatments include medicines or surgery.

 Breast cancer

  This content is reproduced from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 Womenshealth.gov may syndicate (show) some content from other federal agencies' websites when these agencies already provide women-specific information on certain health topics and meet other standards of quality, currency, accuracy, and appropriateness. Syndicated content is updated automatically and managed by the agency that is the source of the content.

 What Are the Symptoms of Breast Cancer?

 Different people have different symptoms of breast cancer. Some people do not have any signs or symptoms at all.

 Some warning signs of breast cancer are—

• New lump in the breast or underarm (armpit).
•  Thickening or swelling of part of the breast.
•  Irritation or dimpling of breast skin.
•  Redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or the breast.
•  Pulling in of the nipple or pain in the nipple area.
•  Nipple discharge other than breast milk, including blood.
•  Any change in the size or the shape of the breast.
•  Pain in any area of the breast.

 Keep in mind that these symptoms can happen with other conditions that are not cancer.

 If you have any signs or symptoms, be sure to see your doctor right away.

 How Is Breast Cancer Treated?

 Breast cancer is treated in several ways. It depends on the kind of breast cancer and how far it has spread. People with breast cancer often get more than one kind of treatment.

•  Surgery. An operation where doctors cut out the cancer.
•  Chemotherapy. Using special medicines to shrink or kill the cancer cells. The drugs can be pills you take or medicines given in your veins, or sometimes both.
•  Hormonal therapy. Blocks cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow.
•  Biological therapy. Works with your body’s immune system to help it fight cancer cells or to control side effects from other cancer treatments.
•  Radiation therapy. Using high-energy rays (similar to X-rays) to kill the cancer cells.

 Doctors from different specialties often work together to treat breast cancer. Surgeons are doctors who perform operations. Medical oncologists are doctors who treat cancer with medicine. Radiation oncologists are doctors who treat cancer with radiation.

 For more information, visit the National Cancer Institute’s Breast Cancer Treatment Option Overview. This site can also help you find health care services.