Donating Blood Can Protect Your Health and Heart

re: Donating Blood Can Protect Your Health and Heart

Linda Mears — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:29:42 GMT

Please help:
Hi, does anyone know of an effective way to relieve iron overload besides 'donating' blood? My iron is in dangerously high levels but my veins are way too small for donating.
I really need to handle this. Does anyone have ideas?
I don't want to take the drug that my doctor is suggesting for this.

re: Donating Blood Can Protect Your Health and Heart

Little H — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:35:17 GMT

All the comments so far, as well as the post itself, reflect the public's gross ignorance of the dangers of blood transfusion. Blood-borne diseases like HIV, various forms of hepatitis, trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, brucellosis, typhus, filiariasis, measles, salmonellosis, and Colorado tick fever are among these horrors, to say nothing of injury or death from mismatched blood and immune suppression...the list grows steadily. Even when donating blood for autonomous use, there is no guarantee it will be given back to the donor.
On the other hand, there are many relatively safe ways to sustain life and perform surgery (including but not limited to heart, brain, obstetric, gynecological, hip and knee replacement, organ transplant)...among modern tools are recombinant erythropoetin and hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments for anemic patients, as well as blood expanders like saline solution, Ringer's lactate, dextran, Haemaccel, and Hetastarch. Surgery tools include electrocautery, fibrin glue, cell salvage, hemodilution, desmopression, laser scalpels...and this list is also growing.
Blood is big business and fear of death without blood tranfusion drives it. Educate yourself! Jehovah's Witnesses have produced, for the public's edification, a DVD titled "Transfusion Alternatives Documentary Series". Ask to view it, free of obligation, the next time they call. It features comments from celebrated surgeons the world over, who have re-educated themselves in order to treat ALL patients who object to the use of blood in medicine.

re: Donating Blood Can Protect Your Health and Heart

Magnolia — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 23:04:34 GMT

My hsuband always has given blood and his reason for doing so was to lower his cholesterol. Now it seems he has been doing something else healthy for himself without even knowing it.

He is Oneg and a universal doner so he always is getting calls from the Red Cross Blood Bank. Good thing to do.

re: Donating Blood Can Protect Your Health and Heart

oldbat — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:11:45 GMT

I'd love to donate, but it seems that you must give your ssn, at least around here. So, I don't.

re: Donating Blood Can Protect Your Health and Heart

Mrrrr — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:44:08 GMT

It is a good thing for some people, I'm sure, but I'm just too squeamish about the whole thing, plus I don't weigh enough to donate anyway. Oh, well...

re: Donating Blood Can Protect Your Health and Heart

Vera_203 — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:27:41 GMT

When I was younger I never missed a blood donor clinic. The Red Cross would phone me when they were coming to town. I felt that if I was healthy, I could pass some of my life giving fluid to another who needed it. Now, I am older and the last time I went to a clinic, the nurse checked my blood and told me I couldn't give at this time. I asked why and she told me that I was "just under the bar" to donate. I got some blood work done at my doc's and found out that I was borderline anemic. So, now I am trying to maintain good blood stores and I don't give blood anymore. I wish I could go and return to giving blood reguarly but I'm a little apprehensive about it. I have so many friends who could donate but choose not to, a lot of them are male. It saddens me that they could share their gift with the millions who are in need of it.

re: Donating Blood Can Protect Your Health and Heart

T E Ang — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 00:43:14 GMT

I've gone for more than 30 donations and since 2000, I asked if there is any reseach done on the health of blood donors Apparently no research had been done and I'm glad that there is proof that blood donation is beneficial to the donors too.

This should be well publicised to encourage healthy people to come forward to donate their blood.

re: Donating Blood Can Protect Your Health and Heart

mmc88121 — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 17:54:03 GMT

So not only can you save someones life, you can also help your own health by giving blood. Definetly a win-win situation here.

mmc88121

re: Donating Blood Can Protect Your Health and Heart

Russ Bianchi — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 17:22:01 GMT

Would the opposite hold true, that for those may be LOW in iron, should not to donate? Or pregnant women?

This is a real question, I'm not trying to be rhetorical here, I'd like to know.

Any comments please.