Why is one not allowed to donate blood before attaining
the age of 18 years ?
Physiologically there is no harm if one satisfies
otter conditions for blood donation. 18 being the age of consent in our county,
the reason is legal.
Can one donate blood after 60 years of age if he/she
is physically fit?
Yes, medically speaking, there would be nothing wrong.
Then why people above 60 years of age are not allowed
to donate blood in
With ageing, blood vessels start constricting. Bloodletting
from constricted veins may lead to unnecessary pressure on hear resulting in many
physiological problems. It is not known at what age blood vessels start constricting.
It varies from individual to individual. Therefore, arbitrarily the retiring age
is considered as the age of cutoff for blood donation.
Can one donate blood if one’s body weight is less
than 45 kg?
Not desirable. But in extreme emergency, a marginal
difference in weight to the tune of 1 to 2 kg is not harmful, so long as body weight
x 8ml is above or equal to the volume of donation.
Why blood is not collected from a person having a
haemoglobin content of less than 12.5 gm/l00ml?
The stipulated haemoglobin content of 12.5 gm/100
ml for a donor is the standard for a healthy person. Persons having lessHb content
than the prescribed one cannot be treated as healthy donor having sufficient Hb
for donations and hence are not allowed to donate blood. Further, blood weak in
Hb content does not help the patient much in carrying oxygen to cells.
Why 3 months’ interval has been stipulated though
donated blood is recuperated within 21 days?
As an additional precautionary measure for safety
What physical tests are performed before blood donation?
weighing Hb estimation (copper sulphate solution method)
Measurement of blood pressure Checking heart beats, condition of liver, lung and
What laboratory tests are performed in blood bank
for each bag of collected blood?
Jaundice (Hepatitis B & C) · Malaria · HIV (AIDS)
test · Venereal disease (STD) · Blood Group · Before issuing blood, compatibility
tests (cross matching) are done.
Why the above laboratory tests are not performed before
They are time consuming tests, and if performed in
camp before donation, there will be excessive delay in disposal of donors, and the
disgusted donors may leave the camps and refrain from donating blood for ever. Besides,
post donation tests are mandatory.
Blood is collected from a vein. Naturally, it is rich
in carbon dioxide content. What purpose does it serve? Why is blood not collected
from an artery to get blood rich in oxygen content?
Though the blood collected from a vein is rich in
carbon dioxide, it is transfused in the vein of the recipient and is automatically
oxygenate in course of normal circulation and therefore serves the required purpose.
Blood is not collected from artery for the following reasons: · Veins remain in
the upper surface of the body muscle and can be easily identified while arteries
remain in the subsurface and therefore cannot be easily identified. · Blood pressure
in vein is low compared to that in artery. Puncturing of artery causes bleeding
at higher pressure and velocity leading to trouble in stopping the bleeding after
donation which is not a problem in case of vein. It is easier to pierce a vein.
Is there any chance of contracting blood communicable
disease by donating blood?
No, since sterilized disposable bleeding sets are
What is AIDS? Is there any chance of contracting AIDS
by donating blood?
AIDS is an abbreviation for Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome, which reduces the inherent power of the defense mechanism of human body.
As a result, the affected person suffers from other ailments, which may be fatal.
No. there is no chance of contracting AIDS by donating blood, since disposable bleeding
sets are used.
Will my blood group be the same as that of either
of my parents?
May or may not be exactly. But there should be a sort
of relationship. We inherit our blood group from our parents by random combination
of one gene from each of the parents. Dominant genes (A, B) prevail over recessive
Does the blood group of a particular person change
What is Rh factor?
Rh factor indicates the presence or absence of an
organic compound in the membranes of red cells of human blood, similar to that present
in the membrane of the red cells of Rhesus Macacusmonkey. Those having the compound
are denoted as Rh positive and those without such compound are denoted as Rh negative.
How long can blood be preserved in a blood bank?
blood is normally preserved in blood bank for 35 days using CPDA or CPDA1 solution
as anticoagulant. The maximum life span of RBC is 120 day.
Why blood is then is preserved in blood bank for only
Donated blood contains cells ranging from 1 to 120
days’ life span. Naturally, cells having such varied life spans cannot be preserved
for 120 days in the bag since in that case there will only be a few living cells
Present. In order to get a considerable number of living cells present in the blood
for transfusion, 35 days shelf life has been found to be optimum with CPDA and CPDA1
solution on the basis of various experiments. Furthermore, cells which can remain
alive for 120 days within the human body cannot survive for such period in an artificial
Will there be any good if blood is transfused to a
patient on the 34th day after collection from the donor?
It will serve the purpose of volume expander. There
will still be a considerable number of living red cells present in the bag which
will be able to carry oxygen to the cells and bring back carbon dioxide.
The blood collected from the vein may contain dead
cells. Will there be any good by transfusing this blood?
The blood collected will contain cells of various
life spans. A considerable portion will certainly be living cells which will serve
Often on tendering the blood donor’s card, blood is
not being made available from the blood banks and then what is the use of donating
Donation in the real sense of the term is unconditional
and without any string. Further, the credit card is given to the donor as a recognition
and to meet the donor’s own future need or the need of the donor’s near relatives,
who have no other alternative but to depend only on the donor to meet his/her blood
need. It is expected that 10-15% donor cards would be tendered. If all the cards
are tendered, then blood banks would not be able to honour cards in view of existing
gap between demand and supply, as blood banks have to issue blood to serious patients
also who have no cards at all. One should remember blood donors are not depositors.
If there are enough donors, everybody should get blood in time of their need.
Why commercial blood banks are not being banned by
Without organizing voluntary blood donor base and
the culture of voluntary blood donation in the community, mere banning of commercial
blood banks will not solve the problem. Rather, the actual gap between the demand
and supply will only lead to the establishment of more illegal commercial blood
Is it true that the donated blood in blood bank is
No it is just a myth and the story is cooked up by
vested interest. Question of wastage does not arise when a big gap between demand
and supply exists.
Is there any corruption in blood bank?
So long as there is a gap between demand and supply
and people are afraid to donate for their near and dear ones, chances of corruption
may be there. The only way to combat possible corruption in this specific area is
to step up voluntary blood donation in a big way.
Which are the states of
where blood donation movement can be palpably felt?
, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and
, Haryana at present.
Which country of the world has the best blood transfusion
service totally dependent on voluntary donors?
What is the blood need of
and how is it met?
8 million units per year. Total collection is 4 million
units. 2 million units by voluntary donors, 2 million units by relative and exchange
What is the harm if blood donation is made compulsory?
It has been observed that common people are apathetic
to compulsion. The people should be motivated and inspired to donate blood voluntarily.
Compulsion may lead to hatred towards the cause, which does more harm than good
to the movement. Only sustained painstaking motivational programme based on education
can help the country to achieve total voluntary blood programme. Moreover, blood
collected from people donating under compulsion may not be safe.
We have read in the science journals about artificial
blood. What is it? Can it be used for transfusion as a substitute for human blood?
The research is still in a preliminary stage. The
term ‘artificial blood’ is a misnomer as blood has various functions. The so called
‘artificial’ blood can only carry oxygen to the cells and bring back carbon dioxide
in a limited way but cannot perform any other function of blood at all. Further,
this so called substitute is quite costly.
Why does blood coagulate when it comes outside the
body but does not coagulate inside the body?
Secretion of heparin by WBC inside the body prevents
blood coagulation. But when tissues are wounded resulting in bleeding, a series
of reactions takes place in the bled blood which ultimately forms a fine mesh of
hard fibre within which the blood cells are trapped and the blood is thus clotted.
Who can give blood?
Anyone between 18 and 60 years of age and in normal
health having a body weight of 45 kg. or more and a haemoglobin content no less
than 12.5 gms/hundred ml can be a donor.
Does it take long time to donate blood?
It should take up not more than 20 minutes of time
including time for rest and taking refreshment.
How much blood do you take?
Blood banks take only 350 ml of blood as your gift
Why is my finger pricked before donation?
To estimate “haemoglobin” content in blood. This is
the component of the red cells which transport oxygen in the human body to all the
organs and tissues. If the level is low, it is not wise to give blood.
What is the liquid in the bag into which the blood
It is called anti-coagulant and prevents the blood
from clotting. It also helps to preserve the blood cells. It is known as CPDA (Citrate,
Phosphate, Dextrose, Adenine) solution.
How often can one give blood?
Not more than once in 90 days.
Is blood donation very painful?
No. Not more than a prick of an injection needle.
Will I feel all right after donation?
Yes, you can go back to your normal work after 30
I have heard of people fainting. Is that common?
Very occasionally a donor may faint. The most common
reason is psychological and often due to rushing to get up too soon after donating.
Relax and rest a little and you will be fine.
You wouldn’t want my blood, would you? I am of a common
We constantly need donors of all blood groups.
Nobody has ever asked me to donate blood.
Consider yourself invited!
I am too old!
If you are between 18 and 60 years and in good health
you can donate blood.
But l am underweight!
Not, if you are 45 Kg. or more, and in good health
you can donate blood.
Oh! but I am anaemic!
We test for anaemia before every donation.
But it will make me weak.
Blood donation has no ill effect on the body. You
can resume your routine duties immediately after blood donation. The amount of blood
donated is a small part of your surplus blood and is recouped by the body in twenty
one days and you can donate blood again after 3 months.
I am too busy and it is too inconvenient!
Ans: The entire procedure of blood donation takes about 15-20 minutes whereas
the actual Blood Donation is just 5 minutes job!
How long does it take to transfuse a unit of blood?
This depends on the condition for which transfusion
is being given. If the patient is being transfused to replace blood for sudden massive
blood loss, one unit of blood may be given rapidly in about 10-15 minutes. However,
if the blood transfusion is being given for anaemia, it may take over 3-4 hours.
Normal rate of transfusion is 28 drops per minute.
Can I develop a serious reaction to blood transfusion
with blood from another person?
Not usually. People differ from each other with respect
to their blood groups and blood of compatible group is only transfused. Before blood
transfusion, a sample of the blood is tested, and cross-matched with a suitable
donor unit. These tests reduce the risk of any serious reactions Of course, no medical
procedure is absolutely hundred percent safe. Most blood transfusion reactions,
if they occur, are mild.