At forty seventh blood donation and going strong ..

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