| FALSE | TRUE |
| If you cut yourself, even if it’s small, you will lose a lot of blood | You may bleed longer, but not any faster. Normal first aid measures should stop the bleeding |
| Women can’t have any symptoms of haemophilia | Around a third of women who are carriers of haemophilia can have symptoms of mild or even moderate bleeding |
| Only women pass the haemophilia gene onto their children | All the daughters of a man with haemophilia will be carriers, but none of his sons will be affected. |
| Children with a severe form of bleeding disorder need to go to a special school | Whilst some special measures may be needed, we recommend you should be able to choose any school. |
| You should avoid all physical exercise if you have a severe bleeding disorder | Physical exercise helps build strength in joints and prevents painful bleeds into those joints. However, during a bleed, you should rest the affected area. |
| Treatments for haemophilia and other bleeding disorders are unsafe | In the past some people were infected with HIV and viral hepatitis from contaminated treatment, but the use of genetically-engineered (recombinant) products (where available) has eliminated this risk. |
| You can catch von Willebrands | You can’t ‘catch’ any of the bleeding disorders covered in this handbook (even those with ‘disease’ in their name). They are all inherited from a parent. |