The benefits of donating blood: How sanguine can you be in a world starving for blood?

The benefits of donating blood usually sink in with a heavyweight thump in times of national crisis. In the aftermath of 9/11, thousands of gallons of blood were tossed down the drain. Simply too many Americans rushed to the local blood banks with their sleeves up and arms bared.

The American Red Cross and many other organizations that had set up emergency tents for the thousands of outpouring donors proved not only overzealous but underprepared as well.

There was loss of money, loss of quality due to sub-par blood cascading into the IVs, loss of faith in the everyday blood-collection procedures, and loss of the most precious life substance that makes us be. Blood.

In order to avoid such vampiric and wasteful practice in the future, we need to sink our teeth into these most vital facts about blood donation, and understand how myth and reality don’t run in the same vein where donors are concerned.

The A to Z Benefits of Donating Blood: Busting Myths and Checking Facts in 30 Steps

1.The American Red Cross has designated May as the Trauma Awareness Month. To rise to the occasion, the organization is urging eligible donors to consider donating blood on a regular basis.

2.Most people worry about the possible disadvantages or dangers of donating blood. It’s only a sign of blissful ignorance. The top utility of donating blood? It is beneficial on the body and rewarding on the soul.

3.Plus, you’re not inventing the wheel. People have been donating blood since the 17th century. The Dolly the Sheep of blood donation experiments was a dog. In 1665, the British physician Richard Lower kept a puppy alive by performing the first recorded blood transfusion.

4.Blood supply centers have a marketing department that deals in selling some of the blood they collect in order to finance themselves in other areas of demand.

5.However, don’t let the conspiracy theorists discourage you from donating blood. The human body can deposit up to 0.2 milligrams of gold while harboring some traces of iron, manganese, chromium, lead, zinc, and copper. But the collection centers are not allowed to sell your precious deposits to the electronics and jewelry companies so there’s no danger of you ending up inside a smartphone.

6.Blood is an expensive commodity. There’s a geography of blood that determines its price range. Also depending on supply and demand, one unit of blood may cost $220 in LA or $150 in Des Moines.

7.In the US, someone cries for blood every two seconds.

8.The two-second rule applies to traffic as well. As the rule of thumb on the road, the two seconds measure the reaction time by which a driver may safely hit the brake to avoid a collision.

9.In case of an inevitable car accident, the victim can require as many as 100 pints of blood.

10.In trauma situations such as this, emergency personnel will use the type O negative red blood cells and type AB plasma.

11.The two types of blood are universal and can be transfused into any patient.

12.Out of 100 people in a room, 46 will have type O blood, 40- type A, 10- type B and 4- type AB. However, these considerations also depend on geographical location.

13.Unless properly stored, blood will expire in 42 days. The only types that will be given the luxury of refrigeration due to their rarity are plasma and cryoprecipitate.

14.Roughly 10 pints of blood run through an adult body. That is 1.3 to 1.5 gallons (or 4.5 to 5.5 liters) of blood streaming constantly through your veins. Scientists estimate the volume consists of up to 7 percent of your body weight.

15.To save a baby’s life, you need 3 teaspoons of blood. To save a burn victim, you need 50 people willing to give their blood.

16.Without a second thought, you will offer a pint of beer to a total stranger sitting at the bar. However, the worries congest overnight as you think about donating blood, although the whole process is beneficial to your health.

17.Donating a single pint of blood reduces iron levels in the body. It will thus lower the risks of heart disease and diabetes.

18.Other health benefits of donating blood include reduced obesity and risk of liver and pancreas damage.

19.After donating blood, your body will act as a recycling piece of hardware as it needs to replenish the lost blood. The old cells will leave room for the new ones to gush out with refreshing energy.

20.How many mosquitoes does it take to lethally drain a human being of its blood? You recognize the question to have tormented many travelers prior to the embarking towards the ideal tropical island. A mosquito can suck about 5 millionths of a liter. You own 5 of them. Do the math and you’ll find it takes a swarm the power of 1,200,000 of these winged vampires to empty you out.

21.There are known benefits in donating blood to the female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes for the sake of science. Just like a lab rat elite force, researchers are submitting themselves to the needle-prick stings of the vicious insects to find the cure for the Dengue Fever or the Zika virus.

22.At the same time, blood banks reserve the right to turn down any donors that have traveled to areas under the Zika virus radar. You may be bite-free but the Red Cross is not taking any risks.

23.Another category that faces restrictions in donating blood is the homosexual community. According to The Food and Drug Administration’s regulations, men must abstain from engaging into sexual activities with other men for at least one year prior to the blood donation.

24.The FDA had previously pronounced even more discriminatory rules. Starting with the infamous 1977, gay men had been banned entirely from donating blood until only recently. They were classified in the same highest-risk blood-donor category with IV drug users while being considered worse than straight men who underwent treatments for syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and genital herpes.

25.Today, fewer than 4 of every 10 people in the U.S. have a clean bill of health (or sexuality, thank you FDA) that allows them to give blood. Fewer than 1 in 10 people actually donate the stuff.

26.Aichmophobia, enetophobia, trypanophobia, belonephobia. Or, if you want to be less of a Sheldon Cooper show-off, let’s just call it fear of needles. If you’re one of the 10% of American adults who carry the phobia around and even reach extreme levels of vasovagal response (where you simply faint of anxiety), there’s an applied tension technique you can try.

27.The above information is vital when facing the sharp tip of the 17 gauge needle that twinkles dauntingly enough to reduce your nerves to the level of a quivering child.

28.It’s rumored that Saddam Hussein once donated generous pints of blood – 27 liters of his blood, to be more precise- in an act of devotion dedicated not to his fellow human beings, but his religion. Saddam Hussein’s blood was used to pen a copy of the 600 pages of the Quran. The sacred book is said to be hidden under lock and key somewhere in the basement of an Iraqi mosque.

29.If you’re planning on breaking a record on donations, you’ll need to really exercise those blood veins. James Christopher Harrison, the Australian man with the golden blood, has made over one thousand donations in 57 years. Considered a celebrity in the Red Cross world and a rarity among blood donors, the man disposes of a unique plasma composition that can heal Rhesus disease.

30.According to the World Health Organization, the past decade has registered a 30% drop in blood donation all around the globe. Only 33 people in 1000 give blood in high-income countries while the numbers run even more disheartening in lower income countries at a rate of 5 out of 1000 donors.

How can you donate blood regularly and hassle-free when you hit a wall of eligibility restrictions? Blood banks have blamed the record low numbers of donors on the rise of certain trends like tattooing, gender fluidity, and exotic-style traveling. Others believe the donation process couldn’t hurt a bit of laxity. How the story will end, only blood will tell.