Donating Blood Can Save Your Life Too

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Blood donations are essential to the success of hospitals. Approximately 29,000 units of blood are used every day to treat patients of violent injuries, genetic disorders, and more. There are often blood shortages, and only about 3% of eligible donors end up donating blood yearly. The personal benefits of blood donation are often assumed to be purely psychological, having to do with the benefits of volunteering and altruism. However, there are also more tangible reasons other than compassion to donate blood, that will be explored below.

For instance, blood donation is a way to screen your blood for any problems. People can have iron levels that are either too high or too low, both of which can be harmful. If blood iron levels are too low, the donation clinic will not take your blood; they might even provide information and resources on how to treat this deficiency. Iron deficiency can upset your blood’s ability to carry oxygen to your brain and other tissues, causing a variety of symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches, and more. If blood iron levels are too high, called “hemochromatosis,” a person might experience joint pain, tiredness, or abdominal pain among other symptoms. This disease affects 1 in 300 people, and most are not even aware that they suffer from it. Phlebotomy, removing blood from the body, is the treatment for hemochromatosis. Donating blood is essentially the same procedure, but the blood is discarded instead of used. Iron levels are a common issue affecting many peoples’ daily lives, and because of how thoroughly blood donations are screened, they can mitigate the worsening of these conditions by providing you annual or biannual checkups at no cost to you.

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Heart health is a leading medical challenge for Americans, but donating blood can improve the donors health.

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Furthermore, blood donation has been linked to reducing risk factors for heart attacks, developing cancer and liver disease. One study found that blood donors had at least an 88% reduced risk of suffering a heart attack, which is one of the leading causes of deaths in the United States. Phlebotomy to reduce harmful iron buildup has been linked to a 22% lowered risk of developing new tumors even in patients who have had malignant tumors before. High iron levels can also cause chronic liver diseases, and phlebotomy can reduce the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma, which is the most common type of primary liver cancer.

While it is important to keep in mind of systemic issues with blood donation systems, such as the pseudoscientific homophobia that still prevents gay men from donating blood, blood donation still helps save countless lives while benefitting the donor as well.

Featured Image: © Pixel-Shot/ Adobe Stock