Giving blood
is beneficial for the donor as well as the recipient. Studies carried out in
the UK,USA and Finland on tens of thousands of people have demonstrated there
are many benefits accruing to the donor from giving blood which are not
normally understood by the general public. The main benefits for the donor are: a reduced
risk of a stroke or heart attack; a lesser chance of getting cancer; and a loss
of weight resulting from the blood donation itself.
The NHS (National Health Service) in the UK advises donors to contribute blood for altruistic reasons rather than for donor benefits. I do not entirely agree with this as the satisfaction a person gets from helping others, in certain cases, can itself be a donor benefit. I don’t see any valid reasons why donor benefits shouldn’t be highlighted.
When you
give blood, the body replaces the amount donated within two days but it takes
up to 56 days to replace all the red blood cells. Forcing the body to create
new blood as a consequence of a donation, means the new replacement blood
introduced is more fluid thereby having a thinning effect on all the blood in
the body. If your blood before the donation was thick or sticky, putting you at
risk of a stroke or heart attack because this type of blood puts pressure on
the heart to pump it to all the vital areas of the body, the thinner blood resulting
from your donation is therefore beneficial to the body.
If you suspect
that you are at risk of a stroke or heart attack, one constructive thing you
can do is give blood regularly. Because of the 56 days it takes to replace the
red blood cells, most national health services will forbid you from making a
further blood donation until your body has fully recovered from the last one.
However, you could schedule your donations at 3 monthly ( ninety days) intervals
quite easily and thereby reap the compounded benefits of forcing the body to keep
the blood more fluid and less viscous.
Giving blood
also reduces the amount of iron in the blood. The latter has
a bearing on the susceptibility to getting cancer. One study in Finland
involving 3,000 people found a significant decrease in the number of people getting
cancer who gave blood regularly (at least once every six months) compared to
those who didn’t contribute at all. The National Cancer Institute in the UK in
its Journal also links increased iron levels in the body with an increased risk
of developing cancer as a consequence of free radical damage.
Another side
effect of giving blood is that the donor loses weight as a consequence of this
action. The University Of California in San Diego estimate that for every pint
of blood donated 650 calories are burned as a result of the body’s efforts to replenish
itself. This equates roughly to a pound (2.2 Kilograms) loss of weight per each pint
of blood donated. If you donate regularly, the loss of weight over time can be
quite significant.
Other benefits include donors in the USA getting a free
blood test worth about $300 when contributing blood. Blood banks in that
country test the blood for infectious diseases before using it, and if anything
significant is found, they will let the donor know and the blood will not be
used.
The NHS (National Health Service) in the UK advises donors to contribute blood for altruistic reasons rather than for donor benefits. I do not entirely agree with this as the satisfaction a person gets from helping others, in certain cases, can itself be a donor benefit. I don’t see any valid reasons why donor benefits shouldn’t be highlighted.
