The perks of being a blood donor

1/9/2023

Introduction to blood donation and why it’s so important

Blood is extremely essential for life. But what happens when someone loses a lot of blood? Blood transfusions are standard and common medical procedures that occur when patients need blood for some reason. For example, the reasons for needing blood can be due to injury, diseases, or being anemic during pregnancy. During a blood transfusion, donated blood is provided to the patient and this procedure can potentially be life-saving. Without blood donations, blood transfusions would be impossible. I have recently started to donate blood regularly and have felt great doing it, both physically and mentally. In this blog post, I’ll talk about the (maybe) unexpected perks of becoming a blood donor. To further our understanding of blood donation, let’s first talk about the different components of blood and the different blood groups and what that means for us as donors and recipients of blood donations.

The four components of blood

Human blood consists of four distinct components. These are red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, and platelets.

Red blood cells

Red blood cells are generated from bone marrow and constitute about 40-45 % of your blood volume. Red blood cells are your principal means of delivering oxygen to the rest of the body.

White blood cells

White blood cells only account for about 1 % of your blood volume, but they play a very important role nonetheless. White blood cells help protect against illness and disease and are, like red blood cells, generated from bone marrow. They flow through the bloodstream and fight foreign bacteria and viruses. They can even leave the bloodstream to fight these foreign bodies in tissue as well.

Plasma

Plasma is the liquid portion of your blood. It is yellow and consists of water, proteins, sugars, salts, and hormones. The main purpose of the plasma is to transport water and nutrients to the bodily tissues.

Platelets

Platelets are the smallest of your blood cells, but they play a big part in that they control bleeding. Whenever you get a wound, the platelets will receive a signal from the blood vessel and travel to the affected area, and “plug” the wound.

Blood groups

Blood is categorized into different groups depending on what antigens are in the red blood cells and what antibodies are in the blood plasma. There are two parts two the categorization. First, there’s the major group, which is the ABO categorization. The different types of blood are categorized into four groups: A, B, AB, and O. Your blood group is determined by the genes that you inherit from your biological parents.

The ABO categorization

What does the ABO categorization mean?

Blood group A has A antigens in the red blood cells and anti-B antibodies in the plasma.
Blood group B has B antigens in the red blood cells and anti-A antibodies in the plasma.
Blood group AB has both A and B antigens in the red blood cells, but no antibodies in the plasma.
Blood group O has no antigens in the red blood cells, but both anti-A and anti-B antibodies in the plasma.

The RhD categorization

There may be an additional antigen in the red blood cells called the RhD antigen. If this is present in your red blood cells, you are RhD Positive. If it’s not present, you are RhD negative. Given this additional information, there are eight different blood types:

A+
A-
B+
B-
AB+
AB-
O+
O-

Do the blood groups matter when transfusing blood?

The blood groups play an essential role in determining if a certain type of blood can be transfused to a patient. When transfusing blood, the body will trigger an immune response if it encounters an antigen that is not found on the surface of the body’s cells. For example, transfusing Type A blood to a person with Type B blood can be devastating because the body will trigger an immune response when it encounters the foreign A antigen. The same is true for the RhD antigen. If someone who’s RhD negative gets RhD positive blood, it can trigger an immune response. Therefore, O- is the universal blood group for red blood cells, since neither the A, B, or RhD antigens are present. Everyone can receive red blood cells from O- blood. Red blood cells from O- blood are used in emergencies or other situations when the blood type of the patient is unknown. Due to its universal properties, and the fact that only around 7 % of the global have this blood type, donors who possess this blood type are very sought after. The following transfusion rules apply to the rest of the blood groups:

O+ can give red blood cells to every other RhD-positive group (A+, B+, AB+, and O+).
A+ can give red blood cells to A+ and AB+ while A- can additionally give to A- and AB-
B+ can give red blood cells to B+ and AB+, while B- can additionally give to A- and AB-
AB+ can only give red blood cells to AB+, while AB- can additionally give to AB-

As you can decode from this, AB- can receive red blood cells from every other blood type, which is good since it’s a very uncommon blood type with only around 1 % of the population carrying AB- blood. As you might have also noticed, none of the other blood types can give to O-. So while it’s universal with regards to donation, being a recipient of O- is the opposite of universal. A patient in need of O- blood can only receive type O- blood.

Plasma donation

For plasma donation, the rules are inverted. Here, AB is the universal blood group since plasma from AB blood can be given to all the other groups. Plasma from O-blood can only be given to people with O-blood since the plasma of O-blood contains both anti-A and anti-B antibodies in the plasma.

Perks of donating blood

Many might think that donating blood is simply an act of altruism and that you as a donor don’t receive any direct benefits from the kind act. The following list contains direct or indirect benefits that you might experience when donating blood.

You get a basic health screening. Your blood is checked for different diseases and some vital blood levels, like hemoglobin and blood pressure, are checked. In Sweden, if your iron levels are low, you get an iron supplement as well.
Regular blood donation is linked to lower blood pressure and a decreased risk of heart attacks.
Blood donation helps to lower the viscosity of the blood if your hemoglobin is too high. This benefit is most prevalent in men since women rarely have too high levels of hemoglobin due to their menstrual cycles. A higher viscosity in the blood is linked to an increased risk of blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes.
Altruism is linked with a longer lifespan, and donating blood is an act of altruism. Your donation can potentially save lives!
Your body uses a lot of energy to replenish your donated blood, so donating blood can almost be seen as a workout!

Prerequisites for becoming a blood donor

There are certain criteria that you must fulfill to become a donor. The prerequisites might differ from country to country, but below I list some general requirements according to the World Health Organization:

You are aged between 18 and 65. There are some nuances to this. For example, regular donors above the age of 65 might be allowed to donate blood in some countries.
You weigh at least 50 kg.
You must be in “good health” at the time of donation. You can’t have the flu, a cold, a sore throat, or any other infection.
You have not had any tattoos or piercings for a while, often six months.
Your hemoglobin levels are not too low. This threshold is often around 12 g/dl for women and 13 g/dl for men.
You have not traveled to countries where mosquito-borne infections like malaria or dengue are endemic recently. Other time-constrained travel restrictions may apply as well.
You have not engaged in “at risk” sexual activities within the past 12 months. Whatever “at risk” means is unclear. For example, here in Sweden, you can’t donate blood if you’ve had sex with a new partner in the past three months, or if you during the last six months have had sex with someone that injects anabolic steroids.
You have not injected recreational drugs.
You have never tested positive for HIV.

These are not the be-all-end-all requirements. This list is meant to give you a ballpark idea of whether you’re eligible to become a blood donor or not. Local variations may apply.

Tips for donating blood

When you have passed all the screenings and are determined eligible for donating blood, what are some important things to consider on the day of donation?

It’s essential to drink a lot of water before donating blood. You lose a lot of water when donating blood. Staying hydrated can keep you from becoming dizzy and light-headed after your donation.
Eat well before donating. Don’t donate blood in a fasted state. Being in a fasted state can increase the risk of feeling unwell after the donation is complete.
Don’t exercise after donating blood. It’s fine to exercise before your blood donation, but it should be avoided at all costs after your blood donation. Working out too soon after a donation can make you dizzy and in some cases might make you faint. Exercise the day after instead.

My experience with donating blood

As I mentioned in the introduction to this blog post, I recently became a blood donor. Initially, my biggest motivation for becoming a blood donor was to find out which blood group I belong to. Donating blood is one of the only free-of-cost ways that you can find out your blood group in Sweden. Prior to my first donation, I was really worried and nervous. I had heard stories of people fainting, and being somewhat of a hypochondriac, this made me nervous. But to my surprise, I felt great afterward. I felt a lot better physically after my donation than I did before, which I at the time thought was strange. I felt light in my step, my mind was clear and happy. It truly was an amazing feeling. Some of that might be attributed to the relief I felt that nothing bad happened, but not all. Then, not even a week later, I received a text message stating that my blood had come to use. Mentally, this was a great feeling as well, matching the physical exhilaration that I felt the hours after my donation. I urge all of you that are eligible to become blood donors to start donating blood. It’s the most apparent win-win situation I’ve ever encountered in life. You feel great while saving lives. That’s hard to beat.