Myths and facts about Blood Donation
“Excuses never save a life, Blood donation does!”
Have you ever donated blood? Are you afraid of donating blood or thinking blood donation may cause side effects to your health? Do you know that one donation can save three lives? In fact, each unit of blood donated can be separated into four major components, which is platelets, plasma, red blood cells and white blood cells, thus one donation can be used to save up to three lives.
Recently, the National Blood Centre calls the public to urgently donate blood. According to Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, Director-General of Health, the blood bank stock of Malaysia had decreased by 40%. The outbreak of COVID-19 had resulted in a reduction in the number of donors as the public avoided donating blood due to fear of being infected by a coronavirus. Besides, the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) also causes the blood bank store to drop due to the restriction in conducting blood donation campaigns. It is significant to maintain the bloodstock at a specific safety level for every blood group. However, there are many misconceptions and myths surrounding blood donation which had caused many people to avoid donating blood. In fact, there are countless benefits of donating blood! Let’s explore the myths and truths as well as the benefits of blood donation!
Myth 1: Donating blood will make my body weak as I would not have sufficient blood left in my body.
Fact: The average blood volume of a healthy adult is 4.7 litres, whereas the blood volume needed for one donation is approximately 350 – 450ml, which is approximately 7.5 – 9.5% of the total blood volume. Your body can replenish the lost fluid within a couple of hours and replace the blood volume (plasma) within 24 hours. All the red blood cells are replaced by the bone marrow into the bloodstream within three to four weeks. Before blood donation, each donor will also need to undergo a simple health screen to ensure their body conditions are allowed to donate blood. Hence, blood donation will not weaken your body, in fact, it can stimulate your body to synthesis new red blood cells faster!
Myth 2: Donating blood is dangerous because it can be contagious with some disease.
Fact: It is impossible to be contracting any virus or getting any disease such as HIV and Hepatitis by making a blood donation. This is because all the material such as needles and syringes used are new, completely sterile and discarded immediately after one use to ensure the safety of blood donors and blood products. Moreover, there is no case of coronavirus being transmitted through blood donation had been reported. Thus, COVID-19 does not pose any risk to you during a blood transfusion.
Myth 3: There is a lot of blood donors in Malaysia. Why do I have to donate blood?
Fact: Based on a local news report, the blood donor is approximately 2.5% of the total population in Malaysia, which means only 2 in 1000 people in Malaysia are willing to participate in blood donation. The amount of people involved in blood donation in Malaysia is far from the international standard, which is 5%. This small population of blood donors will gradually decrease due to ageing and other factors if there is no increment of public participation in blood donation. As a result, bloodstock will become short in supply and limits the options for treatment. Therefore, if you are not a blood donor yet you should start to involve yourself in blood donation to help sustain the need for blood!
Myth 4: I need to go on a special diet before and after the blood donation.
Fact: All you need is to have a balanced and healthy diet before and after blood donation! After the blood donation, you can increase the intake of foods that are rich in iron such as red meat, fish, tofu, banana, poultry, beans, iron-fortified cereals and dark green vegetables to replace the blood lost during blood donation. This is because iron is an essential mineral that helps in the formation of red blood cells. You can also increase the intake of vitamin C from a variety of food sources such as citrus fruits, tomatoes, strawberries and bell peppers as vitamin C enhance the absorption of iron in your body. Furthermore, you also need to drink extra fluids to restore your blood volume after giving blood. Make sure you a sufficient rest after blood donation as well. However, you should avoid drinking alcohol for the first 24 hours after blood transfusion. Apart from that, Strenuous activities which including heavy lifting and cardio exercise should also be avoided for at least a day after blood donation. This is because the loss of red blood cells reduce the oxygen circulating in the body.
Myth 5: High blood pressure patients who are taking medication cannot donate blood.
Fact: The intake of drugs may restrict you from blood donation, but most medications will not disqualify you from donating blood! In fact, people with stable and uncomplicated high blood pressure still can donate blood even though under medication. Hence, you can donate blood as long as your blood pressure is within the acceptable level which is under 180 systolic and below 100 diastolic before the donation. Besides, blood pressure medicines do not interfere with the process at all. However, a blood pressure test will be carried out before donating blood, so no need to be worry if you are a high blood pressure patient!
Myth 6: Blood donation is time-consuming.
Fact: The time taken for a single donation session is less than an hour only! Blood donation only consists of four simple procedures, which are:
1. Registration
2. health screening and testing
3. Blood collection
4. Rest.
The length of blood donation is highly affected by the number of blood donors and the capacity of the blood donation team in managing the event. Thus, you only need one hour to save the life!
Myth 7: Blood can be manufactured.
Fact: Blood is only come from healthy human and cannot be manufactured!
Myth 8: Donated blood can store and keep for a long time.
Fact: The life span of red blood cells is about 120 days in the body and they start to deteriorate once they are outside of the human body. Their survival highly depends on the preservative and nutrients to sustain their life during storage. In general, the collected red blood cells can survive around 35 to 42 days, while platelets can only last for 5 to 7 days. Hence, blood donation campaigns must be conducted continuously to prevent the shortage of bloodstock.
Myth 9: Donating blood can increase or decrease body weight.
Fact: Blood donation does not influence your body weight at all! Although a pint of blood donated can burn up to 650 calories but it is not a sustainable weight loss plan and an individual is only allowed to donate again after 2 to 3 months. In contrast, some may think that blood donation consumes a lot of energy and they need to increase their food intake to replenish the lost energy and blood. As a consequence, an increase in food consumption leads to weight gain.
5 Benefits of donating blood
Donating blood can be a life-saving action, but it also has many benefits for the donor! There are numerous surprising benefits of giving blood to donors.
- Free health checkup
Before giving blood, you are required to undergo a health screening to check your pulse, body temperature, hemoglobin level and blood pressure. This mini health screening is totally free and provides insight into your current health status which is helpful in identifying unknown health concerns such as anemia, high or low blood pressure.
- Reduce iron levels for individuals with hemochromatosis
Hemochromatosis is a genetic disorder where too much iron in the blood. It may be a serious health problem when the excess iron deposit into different organs of the body such as the liver, pancreas, joints and heart, and subsequently cause organ damage. Since donating blood can reduce iron stores, it can be a treatment option for people with hemochromatosis to lower the harmful iron stores in their bloodstream.
- Reduce the risk of heart diseases
Donating blood regularly may provide a protective effect that helps against cardiovascular disease. Besides, some researches also shown that blood donation may help lower blood pressure which in turn may help in preventing hypertension. Moreover, giving blood may reduce the risk of getting a heart attack. This is because it can lower harmful iron stores in the body as a high level of iron in the blood can constrict the blood vessels and increase the risk of a heart attack.
- Stimulates the body to produce more blood cells
After the blood donation, the body needs to work to replace the blood loss. Hence, this stimulates the production of blood cells in the bone marrow, which in turn helps in maintaining good health.
- Donating blood can improve your emotional wellbeing.
Blood donation is a life-saving action as you contribute your time and blood to help strangers in need. Helping others can boost your happiness, reduce your stress level as well as improve the sense of well-being!
Qualification Criteria for Whole Blood Donor
- Aged between 18 and 60 years old
- Minimum body weight of 45 kg.
- In good physical and mental health with no chronic medical illness.
- Not on long term medications and has not been intoxicated by alcohol within 24 hours prior to donation.
- Should not be fasting and have had enough sleep (more than 5 hours) the night before donating.
- Has been staying in Malaysia for at least 1 year (for non-citizen).
In short, blood donation is a simple step that can make a big difference in other’s life. Donating blood is also a win-win situation for blood donors and recipients. You can enjoy the health benefits of donating blood and at the same time save others’ lives! Hence, don’t hesitate to become a blood donor if you are eligible to donate blood!