I’ve regularly donated when United Blood Services has held blood donation drives at Medical Center for a few years now but I was anxious about donating blood since having had surgery.   I finally decided to get back in the groove today.

Today the UBS staff employed a new-to-me technology called pheresis.   During pheresis, whole blood is drawn and goes into a machine that separates the red blood cells (or platelets) from the other components in the whole blood.   The remaining plasma is then returned to the donor.   Since a unit of whole blood only contains about one tablespoon of platelets, the net result is that you can donate 16 times as much of the most vital blood component while actually losing less volume than you would during a traditional donation.   Apheresis only takes about 10 minutes longer than the normal blood donation method and, aside from the initial needle sting, is just as painless.

Donating blood is, of course, a very charitable gesture and that’s certainly reason enough to do so.   What’s more, there’s some evidence that donating blood helps lower bad cholesterol and may play a part in preventing heart disease for the donor.

So, give blood — it’s good for your community and good for your health too!
 

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