Rare case of ‘sweating blood’ baffles doctors
Roughly a week before Halloween, two doctors published a case study that reads like something straight out of a horror movie.
A 21-year-old woman showed up at an Italian hospital sweating blood from her face and hands with no evidence of broken skin or lesions. The doctors diagnosed the women with a rare condition called hematohidrosis, which contains the Greek roots for “blood” and “sweat.”
The patient had a three-year history of these episodes, the doctors wrote in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
“There was no obvious trigger for the bleeding, which could occur while she was asleep and during times of physical activity,” wrote Roberto Maglie, MD, and Marzia Caproni, MD, both from the University of Florence. “She stated that more intense bleeding occurred during times of perceived emotional stress. Episodes lasted from one to five minutes.”
The patient was treated with propranolol, a heart and blood pressure medication. It reduced her bleeding but didn’t stop it altogether, Maglie and Caproni reported.
The Washington Post has more on this story, including an interview with the author of a related commentary detailing the medical and religious history of the condition:
Daniel joined TriMed’s Chicago editorial team in 2017 as a Cardiovascular Business writer. He previously worked as a writer for daily newspapers in North Dakota and Indiana.