Donate blood
2 September 2008Your blood donation may be even more special than you realize:
A single donation from you can help one or more patients. This is possible because whole blood is made up of several useful components. These components perform special functions in your body and in the body of patients who receive your blood. The various blood components are Red Blood Cells, White Blood Cells, Platelets, Plasma and selected Plasma Proteins. Each of these components can be separated from your donated volume of blood and transfused into a specific patient requiring that particular component. Thus, many can benefit from one unit of blood.
Blood is needed every minute:
• To replace blood lost because of accidents or diseases.
• To treat shock due to injury.
• For Major & Minor surgeries including open heart surgeries, transplants etc.
• For burn victims.
• For patients suffering from Anemia.
• During child birth for the mother.
• For exchange transfusion for new born infants.
• To make blood derivatives which are used to treat medical problems.
• For children suffering from ailments like Thalassaemia, Hemophilia (bleeding disorders), Leukemia, Blood Cancer.
Blood is the living fluid that all life is based on. Blood is composed of 60% liquid part and 40% solid part. The liquid part called Plasma, made up of 90% water and 10% nutrients, hormones, etc. is easily replenished by food, medicines, etc. But the solid part that contains RBC (red blood cells), WBC (white blood cells) and Platelets take valuable time to be replaced if lost.
This is where you come in. The time taken by a patient’s body to replace it could cost his/her life. Sometimes the body might not be in a condition to replace it at all.
As you know blood cannot be harvested it can only be donated. This means only you can save a life that needs blood.
Every year India requires 40 million units of 250cc blood out of which only a meager 500,000 of blood units are available.
Saving a life does not require heroic deeds. You could just do it with a small thought and an even smaller effort for saying “yes”.
Benefits:
• Donating blood may reduce the risk of heart disease for men and stimulate the generation of red blood cells.
• The amount of toxic chemicals (e.g. mercury, pesticides, fire retardants) circulating in the blood stream is reduced by the amount contained in given blood.
• The good news is you can give blood again and again to help save more lives!
• If you’re a regular blood donor, you can give blood once in 12 weeks.
By
M.Sivashankari
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