Does donating blood prolong your life?

I'm over a gallon donated (got my pin last year!), and coincidently, donated just today to the PA Blood Bank. They come to our work parking lot in the blood vessel bus (gotta love the term for this thing). Helping people, snacks and juice and a half hour away from my desk...what's not to love.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Jun 2 2006, 08:28 PM) [snapback]264958[/snapback]</div>

This is my layman understanding of the latest HRT information.
The HRT study that informed women stroke and heart attack increased with hormone use was recently debunked.There was a disproportionate number of elderly women in the study which affected the statistics.
The latest round of interpretation of that study ,says that younger women using HRT are protected from stroke and heart disease,while older women using HRT have an increase in stroke and heart attack.

 

this is simple. the monthly "bloodletting" that women have to go through makes us really, *really* pissy. other women are usually pretty much in agreement with our reasons for being grumpy, so the men are the ones that get the brunt of the crabbiness. i don't doubt it takes years off their lives.

:lol:

 

Think about it people . . .

The personal benefits to the donor vastly outweigh the 45 minutes, personal questions, and needle pricks.

* Yes, you are doing a good thing for others and society as a whole . . . that may give you a good feeling.

* For men, our bodies have no mechanism for ridding itself of iron. Regular blood donations helps on that account. (A neighbor MD informed me)
http://www.menweb.org/alexiron.htm

* You receive a mini medical check-up on a regular basis!!! Not only do they take your blood pressure, temperature, and heart rate, they do many tests on your blood after you donate. If there is something wrong (like West Nile Virus, HIV, Hepatitis, etc) they will inform you.

* The freebies! Yes, you get all the Twinkies and other snacks and drinks you can stomach (the blood center I go to also has some very good homemade stew :wub, but there is often other stuff like free tee shirts, gift certificates for pints of Baskin-Robins Ice Cream, Pizza, movie tickets, etc.

[If the blood centers were to outright pay you for your blood, you would no longer be considered a "volunteer" and your unit of blood would then be required to be marked as "PAID." Units of blood having been paid for are more likely to transmit infection . . . considering the cliental of "plasma center" type operations.]

For years, I was not allowed to donate blood due to my flight status in the Navy. Now I am making up for lost donation time.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(geologyrox @ Jun 2 2006, 10:01 PM) [snapback]264974[/snapback]</div>

Hmm, maybe we need to start monitoring miles per donated blood gallon now too.... :blink:

 

I read a book by a biochemist on this topic about 10 years ago, about the same time as the referenced article in M.E.N. Magazine. I don't recognize the names, but the general message was the same.

Women tend to have about a 10-year advantage with regard to the age at which they develop vascular problems. This 10-year difference matches the iron levels, with women reaching overload at about age 60 (while men reach it at age 50). The take home message is that both men and women need to monitor their iron levels, and intervene if the serum ferritin gets above about 80.

My serum ferritin level was measured at about 115. Two blood donations over the next year brought that down to about 60. Note that the lab standard is 22-322, so most doctors will not identify anything in that range as abnormal. You'll have to ask for the test, and interpret the results yourself. Note also that serum iron is a different test - stored iron is measured with the serum ferritin test.

In earlier times, intestinal parasites caused blood loss, but I don't think anyone is advocating that method. Chronic use of aspirin reduces iron overload by causing intestinal bleeding. Personally, blood donation is my preferred way of reducing stored iron. Avoiding red meat is my preferred way of avoiding the unhealthy accumulation of iron.

 

A married man lives longer than a single man. I'll assume because he has a wife to look after him and make sure he eats right.

A single woman lives longer than a married woman. I'll assume because a married woman has a lot more stress in her life that shortens her life span.

My observations of my parents support these assumptions.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rae Vynn @ Aug 15 2007, 12:41 PM) [snapback]496248[/snapback]</div>

Actually, i have to disagree with this. Depending on what the heart diseaste is, making the heart work harder worsens the condition. There are three basic categories of heart disease: Brady, Tachy, and Heart Failure.

Brady patients have an abnormally low heart rate, often in the 40's or even the 30's while at rest. They may also not be able to elevate their heart rate during normal activities or exercise. Imagine running on a treadmill for 15 minutes with a heart rate of only 80 bpm - You're muscles will be starved for oxygen. Bradyarrhythmias have many causes, but they are entirely electrical. Working the heart harder won't fix these problems.

Tachy patients have an abnormally high heart rate - greater than 100 bpm at rest. Anyone ever run a marathon? Imagine feeling your heart beating like that while you're sitting at your desk at work. not too pleasant. Like Brady, there are many causes for this, but again, the problem is electrical. Working the heart harder won't help.

Heart Failure is pretty much the kind of heart disease. for various reasons, your left and right ventricle's are beating out of sync. This means that the wall between them is flexible during the beating instead of rigid, so when the ventricle contracts it pushes that wall into the other ventricle, and ends up reducing your ejection fraction, or the amount of blood that is ejected into your body from the heart. As the brain is starved for oxygen from this, the heart starts to try to beat harder. This causes he heart to enlarge, which then worsens the problem. In this case, working the heart harder can cause serious problems, as it is already maxed out. It's believed that heart failure is often caused by a mechanical problem with the heart, and is less of an electrical issue. As any good mechanic can tell you, if you have a problem with your engine, redlining it isn't going to help.


Anyways... As to the topic, i've always heard that lifespan and heart disease are less an issue of gender than they are an issue of where you store your fat. Women typically store their fat in their legs and butt, while men store it around the gut, which is far more dangerous for your cardiovascular system.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ Jun 2 2006, 07:03 PM) [snapback]264976[/snapback]</div>

keep in mind that anything heard on TV should be taken with a grain of salt, but in a top ten list of things one can do that would most benefit general health, daily 81 mg aspirin therapy was listed at #1.

my doctor also concurs

 

I'm O-.

That simply means that the blood bank sends hired goons
to my door to carry me off if I do not donate at every
possible interval.

I give double reds each time.

I am now in my mid-30's.

My father swore I would never make it out of my early 20's.

Based on these facts, the answer to your question is definitely YES.

Donate as much blood as you can. Please.

 

This aspirin thing is way overrated. Disabling your platelets means that when you cut yourself, the platelets are not available to stop the bleeding. You keep bleeding much longer than normal. And aspirin causes intestinal bleeding. A test for blood in the stool will confirm such bleeding. I think the reason that they reduced the recommendation from 325 mg down to 81 was to reduce the intestinal bleeding. It did reduce the problem, but it's still dangerous.

Aspirin does reduce inflammation, and it does thin the blood. But there are other treatments that work at least as well and don't have the negatives. Concentrated DHA (omega-3 fish oil) helps with inflammation, and nattokinase clears out the blood thickening factors.

I think the general knowledge about aspirin is dominated by Bayer's megaphone. The fish oil and nattokinase vendors just don't have the advertising money to compete.