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bleeding

 
(blē'dĭng) pronunciation
adj. & adv. Chiefly British Slang
Used as an intensive.


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There are many traditional ways of staunching blood; some are practical and physical, such as the covering of a wound with cobwebs (see spiders), while others rely more on the effect of verbal charms. The otherwise sceptical Reginald Scot (1584: book 13, chapter 10) states that a bone from a carp's head was good for staunching blood, although he does not state how this was done. He also names the herb heliotrope as effective (book 13, chapter 6) and gives some charms (book 12, chapter 18), one of which is very similar to that reported by Charlotte Burne 400 years later (1883: 183). Verbal charms are recorded in most of the regional folklore collections, and were clearly widespread, and there are identifiable groups, such as those which concern Christ being baptized in the River Jordan, and stopping the flow of the water, or those which relate how Christ on the cross was wounded with a soldier's lance.

Many of the recorded examples are for nosebleeds or for unspecified wounds, but the grim reality of medicine relying on words is brought home in a report from the 1880s. A farm labourer who cut his wrist on his scythe was attended by local ‘charmers’ who claimed to be able to stop the blood, and the delay in getting him to hospital cost him his life (Daily Telegraph (7 July 1887); quoted in N&Q 7s:4 (1887), 67). Numerous plant remedies, current in East Anglia in the 20th century, are given by Hatfield.

See also: NOSEBLEED, KNIVES.

Bibliography
The full bibliography list is available here.

  • Black, 1883: 76, 79-80, 96-7, 111
  • Opie and Tatem, 1989: 31-2
  • Hatfield, 1994: 32-3
  • Owen Davies, Folklore 107 (1996), 20-2
  • Forbes, 1971: 293-316


1. The upward penetration of a coloring pigment from a substrate through a topcoat of paint.
2. The oozing of grout from below a road-surfacing material to the surface in hot weather.
3. Exudation of one or more components of a sealant, with possible absorption by adjacent porous surfaces.
4. The autogenous flow of mixing water within, or its emergence from, newly placed concrete or mortar; caused by the settlement of the solid materials within the mass or by drainage of mixing water; also called water gain.
5. The diffusion of coloring matter through a coating from the substrate, or the discoloration that arises from such a process.



Said of plants like milkweed or poppy that exude sap when cut. Many trees, such as pines, birches, and maples, bleed sap if pruned at the wrong season.

Word Tutor:

bleeding

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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: n. - Flow of blood from a ruptured blood vessels.

pronunciation Animals often lick their wounds to stop the bleeding. — William Shakespeare. Source: Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

adjective and adverb
adjective and adverb

A substitute for bloody adjective and adverb (1858 —) .
Times Why don't you bleeding do something about it? (1967).



Previous:bleeder, blatherskite, blat
Next:blerry, blighter, blimey

1. the escape of blood, as from an injured vessel. See also hemorrhage.
2. the purposeful withdrawal of blood from a vessel of the body; venesection; phlebotomy. See also blood sampling.

  • b. disorders — see hemorrhagic disease, coagulopathy.
  • incomplete b. — the carcass of an animal slaughtered for meat which is incompletely bled out has a darker meat and more blood in vessels and the heart cavities than a properly slaughtered animal. This gives it an appearance resembling a fevered carcass.
  • occult b. — escape of blood in such small quantity that it can be detected only by chemical tests or by microscopic or spectroscopic examination.
  • b. time — the time required for a small pinpoint wound to cease bleeding. If done properly, the test can be helpful in determining the functional capacity of platelets and of vasoconstriction.
Bleeding
Classification and external resources

A bleeding human finger
ICD-10 R58
MeSH D006470

Bleeding, technically known as hemorrhaging or haemorrhaging (see American and British spelling differences), is the loss of blood or blood escape from the circulatory system.[1] Bleeding can occur internally, where blood leaks from blood vessels inside the body, or externally, either through a natural opening such as the vagina, mouth, nose, ear or anus, or through a break in the skin. Desanguination is a massive blood loss, and the complete loss of blood is referred to as exsanguination.[2] Typically, a healthy person can endure a loss of 10–15% of the total blood volume without serious medical difficulties, and blood donation typically takes 8–10% of the donor's blood volume.[3]

Contents

Classification

A subconjunctival hemorrhage is a common and relatively minor post-LASIK complication.
The endoscopic image of linitis plastica, a type of stomach cancer leading to a leather bottle-like appearance with blood coming out of it.
Micrograph showing abundant hemosiderin-laden alveolar macrophages (dark brown), as seen in a pulmonary hemorrhage. H&E stain.

Blood loss

Hemorrhaging is broken down into four classes by the American College of Surgeons' Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS).[4]

  • Class I Hemorrhage involves up to 15% of blood volume. There is typically no change in vital signs and fluid resuscitation is not usually necessary.
  • Class II Hemorrhage involves 15-30% of total blood volume. A patient is often tachycardic (rapid heart beat) with a narrowing of the difference between the systolic and diastolic blood pressures. The body attempts to compensate with peripheral vasoconstriction. Skin may start to look pale and be cool to the touch. The patient may exhibit slight changes in behavior. Volume resuscitation with crystalloids (Saline solution or Lactated Ringer's solution) is all that is typically required. Blood transfusion is not typically required.
  • Class III Hemorrhage involves loss of 30-40% of circulating blood volume. The patient's blood pressure drops, the heart rate increases, peripheral hypoperfusion (shock), such as capillary refill worsens, and the mental status worsens. Fluid resuscitation with crystalloid and blood transfusion are usually necessary.
  • Class IV Hemorrhage involves loss of >40% of circulating blood volume. The limit of the body's compensation is reached and aggressive resuscitation is required to prevent death.

This system is basically the same as used in the staging of hypovolemic shock.

Individuals in excellent physical and cardiovascular shape may have more effective compensatory mechanisms before experiencing cardiovascular collapse. These patients may look deceptively stable, with minimal derangements in vital signs, while having poor peripheral perfusion. Elderly patients or those with chronic medical conditions may have less tolerance to blood loss, less ability to compensate, and may take medications such as betablockers that can potentially blunt the cardiovascular response. Care must be taken in the assessment of these patients.

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization made a standardized grading scale to measure the severity of bleeding.[5]

Grade 0 no bleeding
Grade 1 petechial bleeding;
Grade 2 mild blood loss (clinically significant);
Grade 3 gross blood loss, requires transfusion (severe);
Grade 4 debilitating blood loss, retinal or cerebral associated with fatality

Origin

Causes

Bleeding arises due to either traumatic injury, underlying medical condition, or a combination.

Traumatic Injury

Traumatic bleeding is caused by some type of injury. There are different types of wounds which may cause traumatic bleeding. These include:

  • Abrasion - Also called a graze, this is caused by transverse action of a foreign object against the skin, and usually does not penetrate below the epidermis
  • Excoriation - In common with Abrasion, this is caused by mechanical destruction of the skin, although it usually has an underlying medical cause
  • Hematoma - Caused by damage to a blood vessel that in turn causes blood to collect under the skin.
  • Laceration - Irregular wound caused by blunt impact to soft tissue overlying hard tissue or tearing such as in childbirth. In some instances, this can also be used to describe an incision.
  • Incision - A cut into a body tissue or organ, such as by a scalpel, made during surgery.
  • Puncture Wound - Caused by an object that penetrated the skin and underlying layers, such as a nail, needle or knife
  • Contusion - Also known as a bruise, this is a blunt trauma damaging tissue under the surface of the skin
  • Crushing Injuries - Caused by a great or extreme amount of force applied over a period of time. The extent of a crushing injury may not immediately present itself.
  • Ballistic Trauma - Caused by a projectile weapon, this may include two external wounds (entry and exit) and a contiguous wound between the two

The pattern of injury, evaluation and treatment will vary with the mechanism of the injury. Blunt trauma causes injury via a shock effect; delivering energy over an area. Wounds are often not straight and unbroken skin may hide significant injury. Penetrating trauma follows the course of the injurious device. As the energy is applied in a more focused fashion, it requires less energy to cause significant injury. Any body organ, including bone and brain, can be injured and bleed. Bleeding may not be readily apparent; internal organs such as the liver, kidney and spleen may bleed into the abdominal cavity. The only apparent signs may come with blood loss. Bleeding from a bodily orifice, such as the rectum, nose, ears may signal internal bleeding, but cannot be relied upon. Bleeding from a medical procedure also falls into this category.

Medical condition

'Medical bleeding' denotes hemorrhage as a result of an underlying medical condition (i.e. causes of bleeding that are not directly due to trauma). Blood can escape from blood vessels as a result of 3 basic patterns of injury:

The underlying scientific basis for blood clotting and hemostasis is discussed in detail in the articles, Coagulation, hemostasis and related articles. The discussion here is limited to the common practical aspects of blood clot formation which manifest as bleeding.

Certain medical conditions can also make patients susceptible to bleeding. These are conditions that affect the normal "hemostatic" functions of the body. Hemostasis involves several components. The main components of the hemostatic system include platelets and the coagulation system.

Platelets are small blood components that form a plug in the blood vessel wall that stops bleeding. Platelets also produce a variety of substances that stimulate the production of a blood clot. One of the most common causes of increased bleeding risk is exposure to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (or "NSAIDs"). The prototype for these drugs is aspirin, which inhibits the production of thromboxane. NSAIDs inhibit the activation of platelets, and thereby increase the risk of bleeding. The effect of aspirin is irreversible; therefore, the inhibitory effect of aspirin is present until the platelets have been replaced (about ten days). Other NSAIDs, such as "ibuprofen" (Motrin) and related drugs, are reversible and therefore, the effect on platelets is not as long-lived.

There are several named coagulation factors that interact in a complex way to form blood clots, as discussed in the article on coagulation. Deficiencies of coagulation factors are associated with clinical bleeding. For instance, deficiency of Factor VIII causes classic Hemophilia A while deficiencies of Factor IX cause "Christmas disease"(hemophilia B). Antibodies to Factor VIII can also inactivate the Factor VII and precipitate bleeding that is very difficult to control. This is a rare condition that is most likely to occur in older patients and in those with autoimmune diseases. von Willebrand disease is another common bleeding disorder. It is caused by a deficiency of or abnormal function of the "von Willebrand" factor, which is involved in platelet activation. Deficiencies in other factors, such as factor XIII or factor VII are occasionally seen, but may not be associated with severe bleeding and are not as commonly diagnosed.

In addition to NSAID-related bleeding, another common cause of bleeding is that related to the medication, warfarin ("Coumadin" and others). This medication needs to be closely monitored as the bleeding risk can be markedly increased by interactions with other medications. Warfarin acts by inhibiting the production of Vitamin K in the gut. Vitamin K is required for the production of the clotting factors, II, VII, IX, and X in the liver. One of the most common causes of warfarin-related bleeding is taking antibiotics. The gut bacteria make vitamin K and are killed by antibiotics. This decreases vitamin K levels and therefore the production of these clotting factors.

Deficiencies of platelet function may require platelet transfusion while deficiencies of clotting factors may require transfusion of either fresh frozen plasma or specific clotting factors, such as Factor VIII for patients with hemophilia.

Condition Prothrombin time Partial thromboplastin time Bleeding time Platelet count
Vitamin K deficiency or warfarin prolonged normal or mildly prolonged unaffected unaffected
Disseminated intravascular coagulation prolonged prolonged prolonged decreased
von Willebrand disease unaffected prolonged prolonged unaffected
Hemophilia unaffected prolonged unaffected unaffected
Aspirin unaffected unaffected prolonged unaffected
Thrombocytopenia unaffected unaffected prolonged decreased
Liver failure, early prolonged unaffected unaffected unaffected
Liver failure, end-stage prolonged prolonged prolonged decreased
Uremia unaffected unaffected prolonged unaffected
Congenital afibrinogenemia prolonged prolonged prolonged unaffected
Factor V deficiency prolonged prolonged unaffected unaffected
Factor X deficiency as seen in amyloid purpura prolonged prolonged unaffected unaffected
Glanzmann's thrombasthenia unaffected unaffected prolonged unaffected
Bernard-Soulier syndrome unaffected unaffected prolonged decreased or unaffected

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Bleeding Health Article". Healthline. http://www.healthline.com/adamcontent/bleeding. Retrieved 2007-06-18. 
  2. ^ "Dictionary Definitions of Exsanguination". Reference.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/exsanguination. Retrieved 2007-06-18. 
  3. ^ "Blood Donation Information". UK National Blood Service. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928035216/http://www.blood.co.uk/pages/b36faint.html. Retrieved 2007-06-18. 
  4. ^ Manning, JE "Fluid and Blood Resuscitation" in Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide. JE Tintinalli Ed. McGraw-Hill: New York 2004. p227
  5. ^ Webert KE, Cook RJ, Sigouin CS, et al. The risk of bleeding in thrombocytopenic patients with acute myeloid leukemia. haematologica 2006;91:1530-1537
  6. ^ Liberty G, Hyman JH, Eldar-Geva T, Latinsky B, Gal M, Margalioth EJ (December 2008). "Ovarian hemorrhage after transvaginal ultrasonographically guided oocyte aspiration: a potentially catastrophic and not so rare complication among lean patients with polycystic ovary syndrome". Fertil. Steril. 93 (3): 874–879. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.10.028. PMID 19064264. 

Translations:

Bleeding

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - blødende

idioms:

  • bleeding heart    øllebrødsbarmhjertig person, pladderhumanist
  • keep bleeding    blive ved med at bløde

Français (French)
n. - saignement, hémorragie, saignée, écoulement de sève (une plante)
adj. - saignant, ensanglanté, (fig) blessé, brisé, foutu, maudit

idioms:

  • bleeding heart    (fig) c¯ur qui saigne, fendre le c¯ur de qn

Deutsch (German)
n. - Blutung, Aderlaß, Auslaufen, (tech.) Entlüften
adj. - blutend

idioms:

  • bleeding heart    (bot.) Tränendes/Flammendes Herz, mitfühlende Seele

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αιμορραγία, (μηχαν.) εξαέρωση, (τυπογρ.) κόψιμο στο ξάκρισμα
adj. - ματωμένος
int. - ματωμένος

idioms:

  • bleeding heart    πονεσιάρης, πονόψυχος άνθρωπος, (φυτολ.) δίκεντρο το περίβλεπτο
  • keep bleeding    αιμορραγώ ακατάσχετα

Italiano (Italian)
emorragia, salasso, sanguinante

idioms:

  • bleeding heart    eccessivamente sensibile
  • continued bleeding    emorragia continua
  • keep bleeding    continuare a sanguinare

Português (Portuguese)
n. - hemorragia (f)
adj. - sangrando

idioms:

  • bleeding heart    coração-de-maria (m) (Bot.)
  • continued bleeding    sangramento (m) contínuo
  • keep bleeding    obter dinheiro ou vantagens às custas de outra pessoa

Русский (Russian)
кровотечение, кровопускание, истекающий кровью, проклятый, чертов

idioms:

  • bleeding heart    (ирон.) чувство жалости и сострадания
  • continued bleeding    непрекращающееся кровотечение
  • keep bleeding    истекать кровью

Español (Spanish)
n. - flujo de sangre, sangradura, purga, drenaje, sangría
adj. - sangrante, sangriento, maldito, lleno de dolor

idioms:

  • bleeding heart    persona demasiado compasiva

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - blödning
adj. - blödande
int. - jäkla!, sabla!

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
流血的, 出血的, 同情的, 悲痛的, 该死的, 非常的

idioms:

  • bleeding heart    软心肠的, 假装同情者, 对社会问题太感伤的人
  • keep bleeding    不停地流血, 血流不止

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 流血的, 出血的, 同情的, 悲痛的, 該死的, 非常的

idioms:

  • bleeding heart    軟心腸的, 假裝同情者, 對社會問題太感傷的人
  • keep bleeding    不停地流血, 血流不止

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 출혈하는, 고통을 느끼는, 지독한

idioms:

  • keep bleeding    계속 피가나다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 出血, 放血
adj. - 出血する, 心痛する

idioms:

  • bleeding heart    ケマンソウ
  • continued bleeding    出血継続

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮ארור, איבוד דם, דימום‬


 
 

 

Copyrights:

American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore. A Dictionary of English Folklore. Copyright © 2000, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture & Construction. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Taylor's Dictionary for Gardeners. Taylor's Dictionary for Gardeners, by Frances Tenenbaum. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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