Blood donation is basically the drawing blood from the body of an individual who is considered healthy as per certain set guidelines and then transfusing this blood into the body of the person who needs it. Very often the hospitals or government organizations tend to organize blood donation camps wherein they spread awareness about basic blood donation facts and encourage people to donate blood. In fact thereafter, the blood that is collected at these camps is processed and certain components of the blood may also be separated as per the requirement. This processed blood is then stored in a refrigerated form till it is needed by an individual.
Among the blood donation facts and myths, it was formerly believed that blood donation is a medium of the transfusion of various harmful diseases such as hepatitis, AIDS and so on. This was one of the myths regarding blood donation that would act as a deterrent to people. To ensure that such cases do not occur, the government has imposed certain blood donation restrictions such as ensuring that the person donating the blood is healthy and should be at least 17 years of age. Blood donation restrictions pertaining to weight also exist that state that the person should weigh a minimum of 110 pounds so as to be able to donate blood. Additionally another one of the blood donation restrictions is that the person should not have donated blood in the past 8 weeks and should also not be on any blood thinning drugs or antibiotics. These blood donation restrictions may vary to a slight amount from country to country but the crux will always remain the same.
It has been observed that in the case of a healthy donor, the individual may be able to donate around 1 pint of blood however this blood is replenished automatically by the body within a day itself. Additionally the bone marrow of the individual will also replace the blood cells that may be lost in a few weeks. There are however certain blood donation side effects which may include fainting and collapsing, stiffness in the joints, sweating , chills, convulsions, nausea, tingling sensation in ones nose or lips and so on. These blood donation side effects are however temporary and will usually subside on their own within a maximum of a couple of days.
Blood donation also has certain health benefits such as the reduction in the risk of developing heart disease. This is because it has been observed that blood donors who donate blood often tend to minimize the amount of iron in the blood which would otherwise damage the circulatory system and the heart. Another one of the blood donation health benefits it that it also makes one feel good overall as donating blood is a great act of altruism as even a single pint of blood can save the lives of many people. Many times, the benefits of blood donation also include the free complete health check up that an individual will have to undergo so as to ensure that they are fit to donate blood. This will also help the donor to monitor his own fitness levels. Another one of the side effects of blood donation is that the person may experience certain local bruising from time to time. However this is found in the case of less that 1 percent of the donors. In some rare cases the blood donor may also suffer from local bleeding beneath the skin which is known as hematoma. However, the hematoma will heal on its own in a few days as the blood that is pooled breaks down and gradually moves from that area.