Patients who notice that they have started to bruise more easily may be experiencing a variety of conditions. Easy bruising can indicate a common change associated with age or an abnormal condition that needs to be diagnosed and treated. Normal regular check-ups can detect certain reasons behind easy bruising, but some diseases associated with bruises may need more thorough testing before a diagnosis can be achieved. Determining which condition proves responsible for the easy bruising can help physicians determine the proper treatment for the patient.
Normal Aging
Older patients commonly experience easy bruising, states MayoClinic.com. The bruises associated with old age usually disappear without treatment. Bruises form when small blood vessels, capillaries, near the skin are broken and the blood in these vessels leaks out. This blood produces a light or dark red, black or purple mark. As the body reabsorbs the blood, the bruise disappears.
Aging causes the patients capillaries to age and the skin to thin. Older capillaries are less stable and much more easily broken. Even a subtle bump can break these capillaries and cause bruising. Thinner skin has less protective fatty tissue that helps cushion the capillaries from injury. Without this protection, the patient experiences bruises much more often.
Platelet Abnormalities
Platelets are responsible for clotting the blood within the vessels and prevent excessive bleeding. Platelets that function properly decrease the formation of bruises by inhibiting bleeding. A decrease in the production of normal platelets or an increase in platelet destruction can lead to easy bruising.
A decrease in functioning platelet production is a common reason behind easy bruising, according to MedlinePlus, a National Institutes of Medicine website. Diseases that cause this deficiency in platelets include cancer in the bone marrow, chronic liver disease, deficiency in folate and vitamin B12, and rare infections of the bone marrow. All of these diseases either destroy the body's ability to produce platelets, or causes the platelets to malfunction.
Diseases that increase the breakdown of platelets include disseminated intravascular coagulation, thrombocytopenia, thrombocytopenic purpura and hypersplenism. These diseases all cause the levels of platelets within the body to decrease. Without platelets, the patient bruises much more easily.
Coagulation Factor Abnormalities
Coagulation factors are substances produced by the body that aid in the clotting of the blood. If these factors are not produced properly or are destroyed prematurely then the patient may present with easy bruising, states Vora and Makris in the article "An Approach to Investigation of Easy Bruising". Diseases that can cause abnormalities in coagulation factors include von Willebrand's disease, hemophilia A and B, hemorrhagic disease of the newborn, vitamin K deficiency and inflammatory bowel disease.
Medications
Various drugs can cause easy bruising, according to MedlinePlus. These drugs can cause the destruction of platelets, decrease platelet production or interfere with the clotting process. The most common drugs associated with easy bruising include chemotherapy drugs such as methotrexate and bleomycin.
