Patient who sweats BLOOD leaves medical experts BAFFLED

Doctors in Italy were perplexed by the 21-year-old patient came to them and told them how she bled from her hands and face when she sweats with no lesions there.

A study from the University of Florence, Italy, and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), said the patient had experienced the random bleeding episodes for three years.

A passage from the study in the CMAJ reads: “There was no obvious trigger for the bleeding, which could occur while she was asleep and during times of physical activity. 

“She stated that more intense bleeding occurred during times of perceived emotional stress. Episodes lasted from one to five minutes.”

It adds that the woman had become isolated from her friends and family due to the embarrassment of the infliction.

The study says: “Our patient had become socially isolated owing to embarrassment over the bleeding and she reported symptoms consistent with major depressive disorder and panic disorder.”

Dr Michelle Sholzberg, co-director of the Hemophilia Comprehensive Care program at St Michael’s Hospital, told CBC News: “I can say with clarity that I’ve never seen a case like this — ever.

“And I can say that I’ve seen some of the worst bleeding disorders, and I’ve never seen them sweat blood.”

The study says that there is still no clear trigger or indication as to why this occurs.

Doctors have diagnosed her with hematohidrosis – a condition which sees the patient excrete blood through damaged pores in the skin.

But the study says: “Various causes have been proposed, including systemic diseases, such as vicarious menses and coagulopathies (albeit historically reported in malaria, scurvy and epilepsy), exertion and psychogenic disorders, in which bleeding might be the result of exacerbated sympathetic nervous system activation.”

Dr Sholzberg added: “I think this person has a very bizarre anatomical defect on a microscopic level that is resulting in this very unusual symptom.”