Blood donation – treatment, effects & risks

When donating blood, medical personnel take blood from a donor and store it in cans of different sizes. The preserves are used in blood transfusions, for example if the recipient suffers from severe blood loss.

Recipient and donor blood must be compatible. Both blood group and Rhesus factor must match. Only blood group 0 can also conceive people with other blood groups. Medicine therefore also refers to these blood donations as universal donations.

application and function

A person can lose a lot of blood as a result of an accident or an operation. The remaining volume is no longer sufficient to supply the body. In this case, the patient needs a blood transfusion. Patients may be able to donate their own blood before scheduled surgeries.In addition, modern medicine also needs plasma and blood cells – including thrombocytes. Platelet recipients are, for example, leukemia patients who are no longer able to produce enough of their own platelets. Without the donations, they would suffer serious bodily harm and would ultimately die.

methods and procedures

When donating whole blood, one donor provides all blood components. Blood contains both plasma and blood cells such as red blood cells and platelets.

Plasma donations do not strain the human organism as much as whole blood donations. They can therefore take place at shorter intervals of at least three days. When donating plasma, the blood flows through a thin tube into a machine that separates the blood plasma from the rest of the components. Erythrocyte and platelet donations are also possible.

What does the patient have to consider?

Before donating blood, there are a few basic factors to consider. In Germany, donors must be at least 18 years old and weigh at least 50 kg. Individuals with severe nutritional deficiencies are not eligible donors.

Blood services recommend a low-fat, high-nutrient diet to improve blood quality and facilitate subsequent recovery. Doctors also usually recommend drinking about two liters of fluids and eating a meal before donating.

Blood donors should avoid exercising or doing heavy physical work immediately after donating blood. Especially after a whole blood donation, doctors advise against heavy physical exertion, as the body first has to regenerate.

Many blood donation centers offer donors a snack and a drink afterwards. This increases the blood sugar level and gives the body energy. This little snack is said to reduce the likelihood of circulatory problems.

Donors may need to eat more food on the day of the blood donation or spread over the next few days. The nutrient density of the food consumed is important: fruit, vegetables, whole grain products and legumes provide the organism with important vitamins , minerals and trace elements.

Normal nutrition after a whole blood donation is not enough to balance the iron balance. Blood donation services therefore recommend taking an additional 100 mg of iron for at least 20 days.

process and implementation

Before donating blood, the donor must fill out a questionnaire. The answers serve to identify risk factors. The question of whether homosexuality should lead to the exclusion of the donor is very controversial. For traditional reasons, this question can still be found in blood donation questionnaires today. The assumption behind this is that homosexual people have an above-average number of different sexual partners.

Today, however, this assumption is considered refuted. Physicians therefore criticize the fact that homosexual people are still not generally permitted as blood donors in Germany if they provide the relevant information in the questionnaire.

People who are promiscuous are at increased risk of certain infectious diseases that are sexually transmitted. This also includes AIDS and syphilis . This risk appears to be completely independent of whether a person prefers same-sex or opposite-sex partners.

Not only these so-called risk groups are not considered as potential blood donors. Even people who are in poor health cannot donate blood. Acute infections , colds and severe vitamin and mineral deficiencies can also lead to the donor being rejected.

The iron value, which doctors determine in a small test blood sample, is particularly critical. Iron plays an important role in the formation of blood. The human body needs a sufficient amount of iron – to regenerate the blood cells that are lost when donating blood.

After completing the questionnaire, physical examination and blood test, the actual donation can begin. The donor usually takes a lying position to avoid circulatory problems.

Who bears the costs?

Voluntary blood donations are a charitable activity. In this case, the corresponding blood donation service will bear the costs. This can be a commercial company or a non-profit organization. The blood donation service, in turn, sells the blood supplies to a hospital, for example, which receives compensation from the health insurance company.

The respective health insurance of the patient covers the costs for operations if there is a good reason for this within the meaning of the Social Security Code. The health insurance also pays for necessary blood transfusions that the patient may receive in this context. The same applies to sensible therapies with thrombocytes, plasma or erythrocytes.

Risks, dangers and complications

Blood donations can lead to acute circulatory problems in donors. These typically manifest themselves in the form of dizziness and mild nausea .Such symptoms can occur especially with whole blood donations: When donating whole blood, the donor not only loses individual components of the blood, but all components of the volume taken. The circulatory problems can be reduced by eating and drinking before and after the donation.

Recipients of a blood donation can theoretically become infected with a disease that can be transmitted via body fluids by receiving it. That is why laboratories examine every blood donation for pathogens such as HI viruses or syphilis pathogens. If the test result is positive, the blood donation service destroys the affected canned goods. However, due to strict examinations of the donor and the blood donation, the risk of infection in Germany is very low.