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Asked by sciencebox to Dalya, Derek, Sarah, Tim, Tom on 19 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by xwinterchickx.
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Dalya Soond answered on 15 Jun 2011:
There aren’t risks that I know of in blood donation. It is done very professionally by trained medical staff although you should not give blood if you have any pre-existing conditions that might make it dangerous or make your blood unusable. For instance, I faint very easily (though not at the sight of blood -I use blood all the time for my work), so I am not allowed to donate which makes me sad. It is also important to drink lots of water afterwards and before hand so you don’t get dehydrated.
You would lose about 1 pound if you gave a full pint, but it would be back about the next day.
You are DEFINITELY helping people out especially if you have a rare blood type.
There are frequently shortages of blood, so I would encourage everyone to donate when they are old enough. There are also many researchers trying to develop ‘artificial blood’ to get around the shortages and to also ensure safety for patients who receive it.
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Sarah Thomas answered on 15 Jun 2011:
There aren’t any big risks in giving blood. Sometimes it can make you faint, and afterwards you feel a lot weaker, but there’s lots of nurses around to help you if you feel bad. It’s a bit painful but it only takes 10-15 minutes to donate a pint of blood. And then afterwards you get to stay and drink juice and eat chocolate biscuits until they let you go.
There’s lots of checks before you give blood, like you can’t give blood if you have taken any medication or have been ill 2 weeks before. And you have to weigh over 50kg. And they also check your iron levels before each donation, and if they are too low they won’t let you donate.
You are definately helping out! Blood donations are always needed no matter what blood type you are. My grandad had myeloma which is a type of bone marrow cancer where your bone marrow sort of acts like a filter and filters out your red blood cells. The only treatment is regular blood transfusions. When he was first diagnosed he had to get one transfusion a month. They gave him 4 pints of blood (= 4 donations and you are only allowed to donate 3 times a year). As he started to deteriorate, the blood transfusion came more frequently. First they were every 2 weeks, then every week, then every few days, then every day. Eventually he had a constant supply going into his veins, before the doctors finally gave up.
It must have used up over 300 donations to treat my grandad. If I donate blood every 4 months for the rest of my life, I will never manage to repay that debt.
Cancers are not the only diseases that require blood donations to treat. You need blood transfusions for bleeding disorders, and certain types of anaemia, and after surgery.
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Tim Millar answered on 15 Jun 2011:
As long as you are healthy and of the correct weight (as in not to light) then the only risk in giving blood is in the small scar tussue that wll build up over the years in your vein and the risk of falling over when you stand up straight afetr giving. Hopefully the nurses stop you from getting up though.
You will lose weight for a short while, but put it all back on when you eat and drink as the fluid will be retained.
You realy are helping people out as blood is needed all the time for operations and some patients with cancer
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Derek McKay-Bukowski answered on 15 Jun 2011:
The biologists have answered this one pretty well. Thanks for those answers!
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Tom Crick answered on 19 Jun 2011:
There aren’t any serious risks in giving blood; in fact, it can be a way that many people find out they have a specific illness that they never knew about.
I think that everyone should try and give blood, because you never know when you will need it.
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