Dear Dr. Roach: I am 80 years old and just had a stroke. I was prescribed Coumadin. I had a miscarriage at age 30 with severe hemorrhaging. I think I needed a transfusion.
They told me I have a 鈥渇actor鈥� in my blood. I would like to know what a factor is and how it got there.
M.M.S.
There are many factors in the blood, including the clotting factors (I though XII) that need to be present in order to form a normal blood clot in response to bleeding. I suspect that you have something called factor V Leiden.
Factor V is a normal protein in the blood that is necessary for blood clotting. Factor V Leiden is a mutation in the factor V gene, and is present in more than five per cent of white Americans, and to a lesser degree in blacks and Asians. Having this gene greatly increases the risk of miscarriage. There may be a small increase in the risk of stroke as well, but there is a definite increase in risk of blood clots in the legs and lungs.
Not everybody with factor V Leiden requires treatment, but it is needed after an abnormal blood-clotting event. More information is available at http://circ. ahajournals.org/content/ 107/15/e94.full.
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Dr. Roach regrets he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible.
