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The Benefits of Donating Blood

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 Alruwaili 1

Muharib F. Alruwaili

Marjorie Depue

Research Paper

17 August 2015

The Benefits of Donating Blood

Most people do not know how important it is to donate blood. Some believe that

donating has no advantages either for them or for those who receive the donated blood.

The necessity of blood donation today is almost impossible to imagine because the lives

saved are countless. According to the American Red Cross, "Someone in the U.S. needs

blood every second - more than 41,000 blood donations are needed daily." Donating

blood is rejected by some because of their lack of knowledge and religion, but it has

positive effects on both the donor and the patient (American Red Cross).

Blood donation is a procedure of collecting blood from a screened person who must

follow the strict guidelines in the country where he/she lives. There are several types of

blood donation: whole blood, platelets, plasma, and double red cells. The main cell in an

individual's blood is red blood cell(also called erythrocytes). Unfortunately, blood cannot

be manufactured - it can only come from generous donation. According to Dr. Nathaniel

Berlin, points out that lifespan of red blood cells is about 120 days in a human who does

not have any health problems. Because red blood cells live no longer than 120 days, many

scientists encourage people to donate. In addition, there are advantages of donating

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blood. According to the American Journal of Epidemiology," it was found that blood

donors are 88% less likely to suffer a heart attack than those who do not donate."

(Salonen et al.) Furthermore, Gustaf. Edgren, believes that donating blood frequently is

related to reducing the chance of getting some cancers, such as liver, lung, colon, stomach

and throat cancers. Therefore, the advantages of donating blood far outweigh any

disadvantage which may be perceived. In fact, the process of donating blood only takes

about 10 minutes which is, of course, not a long time at all. To protect anyone who

receives blood donation, and for the protection of the person donating the blood all

donations are screened for many diseases before it is given to the recipient. Additionally,

the medical center or the hospital will notify the person donating if tests show the person

to be unhealthy. The donors must feel well when they decide to donate. On top of that,

anyone who wants to donate should be at least 17 years of age, and, the weight of people

before donating must be at least 50 kg. Finally, each person will be examined for such

things as temperature, pulse, blood pressure, and level of hemoglobin. Due to today's

standards, there is absolutely no reason not to donate blood as the procedure is

extremely safe. Moreover, there are advantages of donating blood. Giving us protection

from diseases, being healthy, providing people know about their health at early stage, and

saving others' lives - donating blood can save so many people, not only the recipients, but

the donors as well (Edgren).

The heart is one of many vital organs in our body. It is responsible of pumping

blood to tissues to supply other organs with oxygen and nutrition. Any health issues in

the heart may have ripple effects on other organs. Blood flows smoothly throughout the
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arteries from the heart to all tissues, and if this process becomes abnormal, people could

become ill. However, donating blood helps our bodies to decrease the chance of having

heart attacks, which can result in death. According to the Heart Foundation, the primary

cause of death in the U.S. is heart disease, approximately 787,0000 people died in 2011 of

heart disease. To lower the risk of heart disease is to donate blood. "Because high body

iron stores have been suggested as a risk factor for acute myocardial infarction, donation

of blood could theoretically reduce the risk by lowering body iron stores."(Salonen et al.)

According to this study, 88% of people who donate repeatedly do not suffer from heart

attacks rather than people who do not donate. Therefore, donating blood helps to lower

this risk and keep the heart healthy.

One of many advantages of donating blood is that blood donation can reduce the

risk of cancer. Donating blood will decrease the excessive amount of stored iron, which is

considered to be a high risk of cancer." Excess iron has been implicated in cancer risk

through increased iron- catalyzed free radical-mediated oxidative stress" (Zacharki et al.).

An excessive amount of stored iron in your body is not only a high risk of cancer, but also

cause a high risk of heart diseases. Donating blood reduces the excessive amount of iron

which reduces the oxidative stress that increases a risk of cancer, believe (Zacharki et al.).

Additionally, Dr. Gregory Sloop, claims that blood donation may reduce viscosity of blood

which has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. It is

recommended that people donate blood at least once a year as it has many advantages for

health.
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Blood contains various cells which are called red blood cells, white blood cells,

plasma, and platelets. These cells circulate smoothly in our blood either by arteries or

vines. Each group has a specific function in our bloodstream. For instance, red blood cells

carry oxygenated blood and nutrients from heart to all other tissues. The lifespan of red

blood cells is about 120 days and then will be destructed by the liver. Every four months

the red blood cells are destroyed by the liver, and then the new red blood cells will be

created by the bone marrow. The second major components of blood are called

leukocytes or white blood cells, which play a significant role in phagocyte when a foreign

body which may enter to our bodies. The other kind of cells in our blood is platelets.

These cells are important because they produce coagulation factors, which help our blood

to clot when we have wounds.

Based on different cells in blood there are different types of blood donation, such as

whole blood, platelets, and double red blood cells. People can donate each one of these

cellular components. However, every cell has special properties, which means we cannot

donate whenever we want to donate. For example, people who donate whole blood are

not allowed to donate before 56 days, but we could donate platelets every seven days

(American Red Cross).

Many people around the world need blood in different reasons. Some of them need

platelets because they do not have a sufficient amount of platelets, which are one of many

cells in blood and they are responsible for producing coagulation factors. People who

have low levels of platelets do not have an adequate amount of coagulation factors.

Unfortunately, those people suffer from bleeding and need someone who donate platelets
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to them. Donating platelets is absolutely necessary as there is no treatment for those

people except donation. Indeed, according to American Red Cross, this sort of donation

takes about 1.5 to 2 hours and you may donate every seven days.

However, there are many people who need these blood cells because they have

chemotherapy or an organ transplant. Those people need a dose of chemotherapy, which

contains platelets. Unfortunately, according to American Red Cross, producing a single

therapeutic dose takes about four to six whole blood donation, so when people donate

their platelets they will help who need this dose and give them an opportunity to live as

many people do. This process is done now by an advanced machine which separates

platelets from whole blood and return the rest blood to donors. If you donate, you may

assist someone to live longer and that is helpful and useful for society.

So many medical centers and hospital cannot do surgical operation on patients

without blood. During operation patients lose a lot of their blood, and they could suffer

from anemia. Some hospitals do not have an adequate blood supply for their patients and

may ask for volunteers. We should consider of these situations because maybe someday

we will find ourselves in the same situation. Blood donation is really important to save

people's lives. According to American Red Cross, in the U.S. there is someone who wants

blood every two seconds. This means we should think carefully about blood donation

because it has many advantages and contributes to saving many people.

Before donating there are some examination should be done. Donors need to have

their hemoglobin, pulse, blood pressure, and temperature tested. These medical

examinations protect donors from any implication might happen as a result of donating.
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Additionally, they provide donors knowledge about their health if they have a prior

disease without knowing it. So many people discover a disease as they donate which

helps them to treat this illness quickly. The faster you treat diseases, the more chance you

will be cured.

After blood donation, donated blood will be taken to be examined in a laboratory.

A medical center or hospital investigate donors' blood for such many diseases as AIDS,

malaria, hepatitis, and syphilis. It is very important this process is done very carefully in

order to save both recipients and donors. These tests prevent infectious disease

pathogens to transmit to recipients through transfusion. Medical laboratories examine

donated blood cautiously because any mistake will expose the patient's life to danger. In

addition, blood group will be indicated before blood is given to patients to avoid any

adverse reactions that could happen in recipients’ bodies. On the other hand, these

medical examinations provide donors with information about their health because the

hospital or donation center will notify donors if the tests show they are unhealthy. Those

people may discover diseases at early stage as they donate. That means blood donation is

not only useful for people who receive blood, but also for people who give blood.

To conclude, many people should take advantage of donating blood as its process

safe and healthy. Moreover, it will protect us from such diseases. For example, blood

donation reduces the risk of heart attacks, helps prevent getting cancer. Additionally, the

more you donate, the lower chance you will have to get cancer (Zacharki et al.). If people

do not donate for a long time, it will increase levels of stored iron in their bodies, which is

related to increase the risk of getting cancer. Furthermore, blood donation supports many
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hospitals and donation centers to help people who want blood. In fact, many people need

blood in order to be alive and live normally as we do. This generosity is not only for

prolonging and saving, but also helping donors to decrease the risk of some diseases, and

being healthy. People should realize how important it is to donate. If you donate at least

once a year, you lessen a chance of getting diseases, and you will have supported society.
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Bibliography

Berlin, Nathaniel I. "Determination of Red Blood Cell Life Span." Jama 188.4 (1964): n. pag.

Web. 5 Aug. 2015

Edgren, Gustaf, Marie Reilly, Henrik Hjalgrim, Trung Nam Tran, Kalus Rostgaard,

Johanna Adami, Kjell Titlestad, Agneta Shanwell, Mads Melbye, and Olof

Nyren. "Donation Frequency, Iron Loss, and Risk of Cancer Among Blood

Donors." Donation Frequency, Iron Loss, and Risk of Cancer Among Blood

Donors (n.d.): n. pag. Http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/100/8/572.full.pdf.

Web. 5 Aug. 2015.

"Every-two-seconds-someone Needs-blood-Red-Cross-urges-blood-donations-."

Http://www.redcross.org/news/article/il/chicago/Every-two-seconds-someone

Needs-blood-Red-Cross-urges-blood-donations-. Red Cross, n.d. Web

"Heart Disease Facts." The Heart Foundation.

Http://www.theheartfoundation.org/heart-disease-facts/heart-disease-statistics/,

n.d. Web. 5 Aug. 2015.

Sloop, Gregory D. "Possible Association of a Reduction in Cardiovascular Events with

Blood Donation." -- SLOOP 79 (4): 422.

Http://heart.bmj.com/content/79/4/422.1.full, n.d. Web. 5 Aug. 2015.

Salonen, Jukka, Tomi-pekka Tuomainen, Rita Salonen, Timo Lakka, and Kirstiina

Nyyssonen. "Donation of Blood Is Associated with Reduced Risk of

Myocardial Infarction: The Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor

Study." Donation of Blood Is Associated with Reduced Risk of Myocardial

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Infarction (n.d.): n. pag.

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tail. American Journal of Epidemiology. Web. 5 Aug. 2015.

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N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Aug