On Friday I went to work and gave blood since there was a blood drive going on. I signed up after reading our email newsletter. I have never given blood before and was impressed by how easy and painless it was.
I was in and out in less than an hour and the only part that I would consider painful was the paperwork. The FDA regulates blood products and they make sure that the blood donor services are regulated well.
The needle insertion was virtually painless and I got to watch about twenty minutes of "Live! With Regis and Kelly." And I got to have some Oreo cookies and a bottle of juice.
I have heard that donating blood is a good idea health-wise because your body actually rids itself of toxins through the blood such as those nasty free radicals. The body replaces that blood with fresh new blood, so its a lot like changing your oil.
Kate said that all the blood is replaced within a few hours, (She meant the fluids) but this didn't sound right to me, so I checked online and came up with some research and found out a few more facts:
According to www.bloodcenters.org
56 Facts About Blood and Blood Donation
6. One pint of blood can save up to three lives.
8. 94 percent of blood donors are registered voters.
32. A patient could be forced to pass up a lifesaving organ, if compatible blood is not available to support the transplant.
34. 17 percent of non-donors cite "never thought about it" as the main reason for not giving, while 15 percent say they're too busy.
And the fact I was originally looking for:
45. After donating blood, you replace the fluid in hours and the red blood cells within four weeks. It takes eight weeks to restore the iron lost after donating.
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2 comments:
Just make sure you don't lie about weighing enough when donating blood. Otherwise you'll end up all alone, passed out on the floor of the women's bathroom at Mcdonald's wearing your own partially digested oreos and orange juice. Or at least that's what I heard...
I don't need to lie about my weight, Ab. Everyone knows I'm fat. :)
They are pretty strenuous about the process of who they will accept blood from. They didn't let me do it at first because my BP was too high because I was so nervous, but after ten minutes it went down and they let me donate.
I heard that about if you are slight in weight, you have a much better chance of passing out.
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