Which blood disorder affects clotting, causing prolonged bleeding because clots are unable to form properly?

• A. Anemia
• B. Sickle Cell Anemia
• C. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)
• D. Hemophilia

Answer: (D)

The key idea is that prolonged bleeding from a clotting problem happens when the body cannot complete the formation of a stable clot. In hemophilia, the body lacks enough functional clotting factors (such as factor VIII or IX). Without these factors, the coagulation cascade can’t proceed properly to form a solid fibrin clot, so bleeding continues longer after injury and may occur spontaneously in areas like joints or muscles. This directly explains why clotting is impaired and bleeding is prolonged.

Anemia involves too few red blood cells and primarily causes fatigue and pallor, not a direct clotting defect. Sickle cell anemia is a hemoglobin problem that causes cells to sickle and block small vessels, leading to pain and organ damage rather than a primary failure to form clots. Pelvic inflammatory disease is an infection of the pelvic organs, unrelated to the blood’s clotting ability.