von Willebrand's disease
1
7.7
- noun
- /vɒn ˈwɪlɪbrændz dɪˈziːz/
- Specialized
:
enfermedad de von Willebrand
- Many people have von Willebrand's disease.
Examples
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Even minor injuries can cause significant bleeding in people affected by von Willebrand's disease.
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Children with von Willebrand's disease may require special care during dental procedures to prevent excessive bleeding.
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The doctor diagnosed her with von Willebrand's disease after she experienced frequent nosebleeds and easy bruising.
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My sister was diagnosed with von Willebrand's disease last year.
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Many people with von Willebrand's disease experience frequent nosebleeds.
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Due to his von Willebrand's disease, he has to be careful not to get injured.
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She was diagnosed with von Willebrand's disease after undergoing tests for her excessive bruising.
Synonyms
A rare disorder that runs in families and makes bleeding from the nose and mouth happen easily
A rare inherited disorder causing long bleeding from the nose, mouth, or gums and easy bruising
Surface Forms
Morphology
von + Willebrand's + disease
The headword includes the generic noun 'disease', so a learner who knows the constituents will understand this refers to some kind of illness; however the specific meaning (a particular inherited bleeding/coagulation disorder) cannot be derived from 'von' and the proper name 'Willebrand'. Because it is an eponymous medical term that only signals 'an illness' from its parts but not the detailed medical sense, it is only partly transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Von Willebrand's disease is named after a Finnish doctor, Erik von Willebrand, who in the early 1900s described a family on a small island where many people bled easily. Because he showed this was a particular bleeding problem, the name now means a 'bleeding disorder' that causes easy bruising and nosebleeds.