Give Blood this World Blood Donor Day- Blood Donation Process & Benefits to Healthcare - Gigadocs - Online Appointment with Best Doctors

Safe Blood Saves Lives

Blood donation is not only an act of kindness but also keeps your health under check. Multiple pieces of research indicate that blood donation improves health and helps you remain physically and mentally healthy. Our country experiences one of the largest shortages of blood, annually falling short of over 40 million units. To save lives in distress, blood donation needs to be encouraged among everyone. The World Blood donation day, an initiative taken up by the World Health Organisation (WHO) aims to bring awareness about the merits of donating blood and is observed on June 14 every year.

World Blood Donor Day aims to raise awareness about the noble act of blood donation and celebrates those who have saved countless lives by donating their blood. The theme focuses on the contribution of an individual giver can do, to improve other’s health in community living. “Safe blood saves lives” was the campaign theme for this year’s World Blood Donation day. Stressing the importance of a holistic living, WHO adopted the slogan “Give blood and make the world a Healthier place” this year.

Healthcare benefits of Blood Donation

Though at times, people feel inhibited from blood donation process. It is a common perception that blood donation can make you weak, which is a temporary phase. There are proven benefits of blood donation to your body in the long run, described as under-

Blood donation improves Cardiovascular Health

Blood donation can protect your heart. Regular blood donors have a healthy heart, with their blood viscosity under check. Blood Viscosity is the thickness of blood, regular blood donation aims to check that. Higher levels (if unchecked) can lead to a heart attack and in worse cases an organ failure.

Besides, blood donation reduces the levels of bad cholesterol in your blood, keeps iron level under control, and regulates your blood pressure.

Blood donation helps in Controlling Weight

Blood donation does not cause weight gain. The process your body undergoes to replace the blood or plasma which you donate burns additional calories. On per pint of blood donated, you can lose up to 650 calories. While this calorie burn is not significant or occurs that frequently to cause weight loss, it does not cause any weight gain, either.

Healthy Liver

Your body absorbs iron from the food you eat, and excessive iron-containing foods can lead to greater iron absorption, which puts pressure on the liver. Excessive deposits can cause severe oxidation of the liver tissue causing serious organ damage. Blood donation can stabilize iron levels and mitigate the chances of liver damage.

Blood donation keeps Cancer Away

According to research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, iron-overload as described above can cause increased damage due to free radicals in the body. This can increase your risk of developing cancer, which can be dealt away with blood donation.

Blood donation Criteria

Threshold- A hemoglobin level of not less than 12.0 g/dl for Females and not less than 13.0 g/dl for Males
Weight- Minimum 50 kg
Age – Between 18 years to 65 years
You should not be fasting before blood donation
You should drink plenty of fluids before blood donation
Consume iron-rich foods, especially the week before blood donation
Your body temperature should be normal (36.5–37.5 °C | 97.7–99.5 °F)
You may need to provide your medical history to assess any risk levels.
You need to go through a risk assessment for transfusion-transmissible infection

What do you know about Blood donation?

World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on the birthday of Karl Landsteiner, who discovered the ABO blood group system, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in the year 1930.
You are eligible to donate on an interval of every 56 days up to 6 times annually.
If you are on antibiotics, wait for at least 48 hours after you have had the last dose of antibiotics for blood donation.
The donated red blood cells can be safely stored for 42 days. Platelets must be used within five days.
On an average blood donation cycle, only 400-450 ml of blood is drawn. This does not affect the overall well-being of a healthy individual at all.
Blood donation can be carried by all blood types.
Bombay blood group (Hh blood group), AB negative, B negative, AB-positive, A-negative, O-negative are the rarest blood groups.
You cannot go for blood donation if you have an infectious disease, like flu, sore throat, cold sore, stomach infection.
You cannot go for blood donation if you have recently had a tattoo or body piercing. You will have to wait for 6 months from the date of the tattoo or body piercing procedure.
Wait for 24 hours if you have visited the dentist for a minor procedure. For major dental work, you may have to wait a month for blood donation.
Those who had a positive test for HIV (AIDS virus) cannot go for blood donation.
You must not give blood if at any point in time you have injected recreational drugs.
WHO advises against blood donation while breast-feeding
Following childbirth, the mother must wait for at least 9 months (as for pregnancy) and until 3 months till the baby is getting most of the nutrition from solid food or bottle milk.

Blood donation process

Each time you donate blood, you will receive a free wellness check-up of your vitals, which includes-

Blood Pressure Check
Pulse
Temperature
Iron Count
Cholesterol Reading

You can use these results to determine your wellness and cardiovascular risk factor besides other possible health conditions. Thus, Blood donation is a great way to take a stock of your health.

Make a great decision for your health and the health of your community this World Blood donor Day, give blood which can save someone’s life. Become regular blood or platelet donor.

Plan your next heart-healthy donation with Gigadocs.

How can Gigadocs help you in Blood Donation?

Gigadocs is a smart practice management software, taking care of your health digitally. Available on the play store and app store, Gigadocs helps you to leverage the power of technology, track your vitals and share them live with a doctor before blood donation.

On the Gigadocs app, you can book a virtual consultation, from a Health clinic near you or even consult a digital doctor cross the country. Discuss your medical status over a virtual appointment from the comfort of your home, and keep coronavirus infectivity scare far away.

Download the Gigadocs app from-