Do you want to live longer, DONATE BLOOD..
Narayana Hrudayalaya and Rotary Club were organising a blood donation drive on 14 October 2022 at the Alliance University Bangalore and I was in the Student Activity Centre by 11 am. By 11.50 AM I had donated about 400ml O+ blood and was back in my room in the Learning centre.
The past five donations were at St. John's and were apheresis procedures to take out just the platelets. Though the process was lengthy, 2 hours and less impactful, the blood returns to our body after passing through the machine after 200 ml of platelets are removed, I had minor health complications as a result. So took a voluntary hiatus of ten months and am back again, this time for whole blood donation.
The feeling that someone somewhere will benefit from this donation is a very calming and peaceful thought. Doing our job, reaching heights of personal accomplishments and glory etc is very good but going that extra mile to see that through you, someone's life has been saved is indeed a very calming satisfying experience and thought.
Here are two impressive quotes from two great human beings who made a big difference in this world.
The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” – Albert Schweitzer.
“The greatness of humanity is not in being human, but in being humane.” – Mahatma Gandhi.
By helping others we are going to a higher plane of consciousness, spiritual enlightenment and reasoning for our physical existence on planet earth.
Blood donation has great health benefits too. Read this from firstpost.com (click here)
1. Reduce risk of heart attacks and liver ailment
Donating blood regularly is beneficial to prevent and reduce heart
attacks and liver ailment. The risk of heart and liver related problem
is caused by the iron overload in the body. Donating blood helps in
maintaining the iron level in the body and thus reduce those risk.
2. Lower the risk of cancer
Cancer is the most feared and deadly disease. Blood donation helps in
lowering the risk of cancer. By donating blood regularly the iron level
in the blood is balanced and the risk of cancer-related to the liver,
lungs, and intestine gets lower.
3. New blood cells
Once we donate blood, the body tries to restore the blood loss. This
helps in the production of the new blood cells and maintain good health.
4. Reduced risk of hemochromatosis
Hemochromatosis is a disease that occurs due to increase in the
absorption of iron by the body. Blood donation helps in reducing iron
overload in the body and prevent Hemochromatosis.
5. Maintain Weight
It is recommended to donate blood for those who are overweight.
Regularly donating blood helps in weight loss and burn fat up to 650
calories.
6. Helps prevent premature ageing.
While donating blood, you not only lose weight but it also helps in
reducing stress. Stress is one of the reasons that triggers premature
ageing. Blood donation helps in reducing stress on your mind and body.
Also, keeps the skin tight and wrinkle-free.
7. Speeds up healing process
The body tries to adjust to the loss of red blood the cells we donate
blood, these adjustments also help in accelerating the wound healing
process.
8. Lower cholesterol level
Blood contains iron, if the iron in blood is overloaded it can
increase the chances of blockage in blood vessels. Blood donation can
help to reduce the amount of iron in the blood thus helps in lower
cholesterol.
9. Free Medical checkup
Every donor goes through a routine checkup prior to donation. Body
temperature is checked along with blood pressure, hemoglobin and pulse.
Blood is tested for 13 infectious disease like HIV, West Nile Virus,
hepatitis B and C and Syphilis. It gives you a cost free quick look into
your health.
10. Live a longer life
The people who involve in the altruistic work have proven to live a
longer life. Blood donation is altruistic works so it not only save
lives of other but also helps you live longer and healthier.
11. Psychological Upliftment
Beside all the healthy benefits that we obtain by donating blood, we
also get the powerful benefit psychologically by helping the one in
need.
12. Blood storage
There is no other method to manufacture blood; the only way to
collect blood is from the people who are willing to donate. The blood
that we donate is also stored at the blood bank after their usage and
used in future when needed. Some chemicals are added to it in order to
preserve it for long time and use it in future when needed.
13. Save lives
Every time we donate one pint of blood it helps save three lives, so
if we donate four times in a year we end up saving 12 lives. We don’t
have to be a superhero to save someone, a simple act of donating blood
can also save lives.
Blood donation is so simple, it does not need complicated machinery but still can save many lives.
I dedicate this 47th blood donation very affectionately and caringly to my elder cousin brother Rajan P George IRS retd. (64 years) who passed away three days back due to possible asymptomatic Covid complications.
George
I received 2 heavy packets and kept the final assembly to last Sunday. At 12 noon we started with Anila helping me support, lift the heavy planks etc. The assembly instructions were very clear and by 4.30 pm, we finished the assembly.
I always wonder how IKEA has grown to be a global interior decor brand of $48 billion and is slowly establishing its presence in India. I happened to visit the largest IKEA showroom cum sales store in India in Bangalore two months back. In four hours could just speedily scan through the vast IKEA merchandise available there.
