Medicine is now advanced. Medical technology is also making many impossible things possible, which was unimaginable even a few decades ago. But there is no known way to make blood artificially. The blood of any other animal cannot be given to man. If another person donates blood for the needs of one person, he has no choice.
The funny thing is, the little blood you give is saving another person's life, for your own sake, but it's unnecessary, extra. Because an adult male weighing 50 kg has an extra 1300 ml of blood in his body, in the case of women it is 600 ml. And when it comes to donating blood, only 350-400 ml of blood is taken from a donor, which is less than half of this extra blood. And this erosion is completed very quickly.
When donating blood, less than one pint of blood (350-400 ml) is taken from the body of a donor, which is less than 13% of the total blood in an adult human body. But more importantly, the human body has an extraordinary ability to compensate for the loss of blood by producing new blood cells and plasma.
Take the case of red particles. Every moment millions of red blood cells are formed in the body, then destroyed. This is how the body works to replenish the red blood cells that come out after donating blood. After donating blood, there is a type of cell in the kidney called peritubular cell which understands that the amount of oxygen in the blood is reduced (because red blood cells contain oxygen). Simultaneously he begins to secrete a type of protein called erythroprotein. This protein is transported by the blood to the bone marrow. Bonemarrow then began stem cell production. And stem cells are the main component, which makes red blood cells, white blood cells and nuclei. Erythroprotein also stimulates stem cells to produce more red blood cells instead of white blood cells.
Why wait?
Hemoglobin levels usually return to normal within six to 12 weeks of transfusion. The question is, why does it take so long? In fact, even if the loss of white blood cells or micro-cells is completed, it takes some time for the loss of red blood cells to be completed. And there is a relationship between red blood cells and wellness. This is because red blood cells contain hemoglobin molecules, whose main function is to carry oxygen throughout the body. And hemoglobin contains iron, which is lost during blood transfusions. To replenish this, more iron is used in the body on the one hand, and more iron is produced from food and drink on the other.
In general, women have less iron in their bodies than men. And low iron means low hemoglobin and if it is long term, anemia can also occur. For these reasons, men should wait at least 12 weeks and women at least 18 weeks after donating blood. Moreover, before donating blood, we have the necessary hemoglobin test for donors, especially female blood donors, and it is clearly stated that blood will not be taken if the hemoglobin is not above a certain level.
Eating certain foods increases iron
The iron in our body is usually stored in the form of two proteins — ferritin and hemocydirin. And these proteins are in the liver, bone marrow and muscle. If the body continues to lose more and more iron and the process of regeneration through food and drink is not active, then there may be a deficiency of hemoglobin in the body.
There are several foods that can easily meet the iron needs of the body if eaten regularly. For example, fish, meat, eggs, green vegetables, pulses, red rice, beans, etc. In addition, vitamin C helps retain iron. So if you eat a glass of vitamin C-rich fruit juice after eating these foods, then your body will absorb all the iron in these foods.
Lots of water to drink
Blood is eight percent of the total body weight. And 55 percent of blood is plasma, 90 percent of which is actually water. So even if the weight of the blood you give is less than one point, in fact half of it is water. That's why we recommend drinking enough water (at least 500 ml) before and after donating blood. Only then, after giving blood, the loss is quickly compensated.
Loss of consciousness
We see some people fainting after donating blood. This is usually due to low blood pressure. Immediately after giving blood due to a special type of nerve cell called baroreceptor in the arteries of the neck, the body gets the news that the blood pressure has decreased. To fill this void, the blood cells then contract and try to normalize blood pressure. And if someone gets up quickly or starts walking immediately after donating blood, then suddenly the blood pressure drops and some of the body may feel light, faint, etc.
All you can do to avoid it is to lie down in bed for a while without getting up immediately after donating blood. Care should be taken not to have any pillow or anything high under the head at this time. Because the head has to be kept at the level of the heart, so that enough blood can go from the heart to the brain. And before getting down, you can sit on the bed with your legs dangling for a while. And even then, if you have a problem, we have a team of doctors present to see it.