Posts Tagged ‘People’
Sick at the sight of Blood
yes. It happens.
Some people get sick at the sight of blood. So even though they may be open to the idea of giving blood they may have a huge resistance towards donating blood due to the fear of fainting and looking dumb. This is not the case only for people who look frail. I have many friend, some of them huge guys with lots of muscles ad when they see blood, the good old gag reflex kicks in .
There could be many reasons why this happens.
One good story says ancient warriors fainted when they saw blood because of the drop in blood pressure. This way they could save from blood oozing out of their wounds. Well if you are determined to donate blood find a counselor a psychologist who can help you though this fear. You will accomplish two things at once. You would have cured your self of a fear and you will also be saving loves by donating blood.
why more difficult to donate blood when they have a shortage?
I hear ads asking for more blood donors every day but they are making it more & more difficult to donate blood. I used to donate but now they don’t want it ‘cos I’ve visited Thailand.
Im sure I could get tested for malaria or my blood could, BUT… if I was in danger of dying from lack of blood Id sure as hell take anyone’s blood! Maybe I would die later but not now!
They’re just trying to protect people. I had an uncle who had knee surgery in the late 80′s and he got hepatitus C from his transfusion. Its not something to take lightly, and not everyone shares your opinion on preffering to die later. I, for one, would prefer to die quietly and painlessly on an operating table tomorrow than to die a horrible, painful death from HIV, Malaria, or Hepatitus in ten years.
I’m sure they could do tests, but then again, there may be pathogens that they can’t detect that you might have come into contact with in Thailand.
I wish I could donate, but I’m anemic, and my doc won’t let me… The shortage should get better soon though.
Why do you have to wait a year to donate blood if you’ve had a blood transfusion?
I had a blood transfusion last September when I was in a car accident, and I know I have to wait a year to donate blood. But why do you have to wait a year? What happens in a year that makes it ok to give blood again? lol.
Its just in case the blood you were transfused with was carrying a disease. The idea is that in one year, either symptoms would have shown up, or a blood test will show the presence of the disease. Blood tests can’t show diseases immediately. Lets say a person contracts AIDS today. It won’t show in a test right away.
That sounds kinda scary, but the fact is that donors and blood are screened so thouroughly that the chance of contracting a disease from a US blood transfusion are almost zero. The fact that we even defer people who have received blood from a US blood bank from donating back into that same blood bank is just more evidence that we take no chances.
So enjoy your year off, and then get back in the chair!
Why are you not allowed to donate blood if your blood pressure is low?
My blood pressure is about 78/52 and the nurse said that I cannot donate blood because they would have to take me to the hospital and put it back in. Is that correct and if it is, does it mean that if I was injured and losing blood I would die more quickly than someone with normal bp?
Blood pressure is partly determined by your blood volume. If you suddenly remove a pint of blood without replacing the volume, it is normal for BP to go down (less blood in the same space = lower pressure)
Your BP is low, but that is probably normal for you, and is just fine. Taking a pint out, though, would likely drop your BP to the point where you won’t adequately perfuse your vital organs. This can cause fainting, heart problems, kidney damage and other bad things.
If you were injured and had a major blood loss, you might see adverse effects more quickly. However, if you are young and otherwise healthy, your sympathetic nervous system would kick in big time and the adrenaline would probably keep your BP high enough to keep you going.
People who have high blood pressure are at risk if they lose a lot of blood because of something called autoregulation. Their organs are used to the higher pressures, and they are unable to tolerate pressures that would be normal for you.