To give blood or not to give blood...

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  • AlbertSchwartz
    AlbertSchwartz Posts: 810
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    Is anyone on the bone marrow register?

    I put myself on it, but have never heard anything. My blood type is quite common, AB positive so guess the marrow is too, yes its official, i'm common lol

    I read that they can give drugs to stimulate marrow production and havest it from a dialisis type machine. and of course theres the traditional drill it out approch!!! lol

    Al
  • ligytha
    ligytha Posts: 130
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    Is anyone on the bone marrow register?

    I put myself on it, but have never heard anything. My blood type is quite common, AB positive so guess the marrow is too, yes its official, i'm common lol

    I read that they can give drugs to stimulate marrow production and havest it from a dialisis type machine. and of course theres the traditional drill it out approch!!! lol

    Al

    I am ineligible for marrow donation, but I have a few friends who are registered. One of them did get called, but something happened to the recipient and she did not end up giving.
    The drugs stimulate you to release the stem cells from your bones into the blood stream, where they can collect them. The match for marrow donation relies on a number of factors, not just your blood type (for which common-ness depends on your country and ethnic origin).
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
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    Hi Guys, I've got a new one for you...

    To give blood or not to give blood...

    I have indevered to give blood since i was old enough and providing i'm not ill at the time i have given every six months, (normal practice here in the UK). Now that i am turning into a fitness freak, i'm pushing myself harder and harder in the gym. Now if giving a pint of blood and calling that day a rest day was enough, i'd be happy, but i have a feeling that my abilities will be knocked back for a good while.

    So how long do you recon and 'Athlete' such as myself lol, will take to be fully fit? or am i just over looking the bigger picture and should quit whining and give blood?

    I did consider missing my next donation to maximise my work out, then the next time it comes around, i'll be that much closer to my goal and less effected by the loss of blood.

    Your views peeps :smile:

    Cheers

    Al

    You're male, and that means you need to give blood relatively often. It sounds weird I know, but here is why.

    Men have no way to remove iron from their bloodstreams - that is why doctors will tell you never to take an iron supplement. Because of this as iron builds up, it makes your blood thicker, and more 'tacky.' Ultimately it increases your chance of heart failure, heart attack, and heart disease because your heart has to pump harder and harder to move the same volume of blood.

    The reason is believed to be that when our bodies evolved to their current state, it was very likely that you would be left bleeding on a semi-regular basis. Since we don't spend our time fighting sabretooth tigers and mammoths anymore, or running through thickets - and since unlike women we don't have a natural way to lose blood once a month... its actually good for you to give blood.

    If you're worried about the drop in red blood cells, you can also donate plasma.
  • REB89
    REB89 Posts: 493 Member
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    Hi Guys, I've got a new one for you...

    To give blood or not to give blood...

    I have indevered to give blood since i was old enough and providing i'm not ill at the time i have given every six months, (normal practice here in the UK). Now that i am turning into a fitness freak, i'm pushing myself harder and harder in the gym. Now if giving a pint of blood and calling that day a rest day was enough, i'd be happy, but i have a feeling that my abilities will be knocked back for a good while.

    So how long do you recon and 'Athlete' such as myself lol, will take to be fully fit? or am i just over looking the bigger picture and should quit whining and give blood?

    I did consider missing my next donation to maximise my work out, then the next time it comes around, i'll be that much closer to my goal and less effected by the loss of blood.

    Your views peeps :smile:

    Cheers

    Al

    You're male, and that means you need to give blood relatively often. It sounds weird I know, but here is why.

    Men have no way to remove iron from their bloodstreams - that is why doctors will tell you never to take an iron supplement. Because of this as iron builds up, it makes your blood thicker, and more 'tacky.' Ultimately it increases your chance of heart failure, heart attack, and heart disease because your heart has to pump harder and harder to move the same volume of blood.

    The reason is believed to be that when our bodies evolved to their current state, it was very likely that you would be left bleeding on a semi-regular basis. Since we don't spend our time fighting sabretooth tigers and mammoths anymore, or running through thickets - and since unlike women we don't have a natural way to lose blood once a month... its actually good for you to give blood.

    If you're worried about the drop in red blood cells, you can also donate plasma.

    that's really interesting, I never knew that!
  • AlbertSchwartz
    AlbertSchwartz Posts: 810
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    You're male, and that means you need to give blood relatively often. It sounds weird I know, but here is why.

    Men have no way to remove iron from their bloodstreams - that is why doctors will tell you never to take an iron supplement. Because of this as iron builds up, it makes your blood thicker, and more 'tacky.' Ultimately it increases your chance of heart failure, heart attack, and heart disease because your heart has to pump harder and harder to move the same volume of blood.

    The reason is believed to be that when our bodies evolved to their current state, it was very likely that you would be left bleeding on a semi-regular basis. Since we don't spend our time fighting sabretooth tigers and mammoths anymore, or running through thickets - and since unlike women we don't have a natural way to lose blood once a month... its actually good for you to give blood.

    If you're worried about the drop in red blood cells, you can also donate plasma.

    I was very intrigued after reading this, so much so I looked up some medical journals.

    I'm not sure this is strictly true. I know research conducted at University of Florida would support some aspects of this, but from other sources the body does regulate iron levels, the body stores iron and also stops absorbing when store levels are high. I think that this would only be the case if the person had a condition the opposite of anaemia. All that said, after reading how the body regulates iron levels, I recon we all should give blood unlike cave man days we can have steak when ever we want :wink: and... If you are one of the people that does have a reverse anomic condition it would be very beneficial.

    Too much iron in the blood has been linked to cancer, high blood pressure amongst others.

    Al
    2 links you might find interesting
    http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/04/26/give.blood.wmd/
    http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0716-97602000000200013&script=sci_arttext
  • zenmama
    zenmama Posts: 1,000
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    I gave blood recenlty and I still ran the day of and the day after....it is all how you manage it. I think you should give too much of a shortage..

    The nursing student in me...LL

    Zen:laugh:

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