Blood Donating....
- Thread starter JCMaloney
- Start date
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
Was in Christmas Eve for another pint. 5m 32s.
2 Orange Clubs.
1 Pack of Seabrook Ready Salted
1 Pack of Bourbons.
2 Mince pies.
Read that first line and for a moment I was thinking you were talking about your local pub.....then I realised which thread this was!
ollie989898
Member
If you are ever given a blood transfusion then you are basically ineligible to donate blood again. This isn't because you're now persona non grata due to an infection risk- it's for another reason I shall explain now.
Everyone is familiar with the old O, A,B and AB blood groups, right? Well basically, you can't ever receive blood that is incompatible with your immune system. Now, regardless of whether you are A, AB or B, everyone naturally develops immunoglobulins to the antigens that your own red cells do not have- I have never recieved any blood or blood products in my life, but supposing I was blood group B, I will have anti-A immunoglobulins on board in my blood. This means that if I was to receive any A type blood, the extremely paranoid, shotgun wielding and partially sighted old man that makes up my immune system would go mental and launch an attack against that A type blood- because the red cells in it will have A antigens on them and there is already specific ammunition on hand for them. The people who are universal receivers are people who have the AB blood group- they have all the antigens going and so won't launch an attack against A or B or AB blood. Better yet, those O type blood folk have red cells with no antigens and so you can give that to someone nearly regardless of what blood type the receiver might be.
Only it's not that simple. Not only do you have to factor in if someone is Rhesus positive or negative, but the O, A,B and AB blood group system is actually just 1 (and to be fair it's the biggest one) of over 300 antigenic permutations that we know of (we're still finding more today) in human blood. Because of this, it is likely that if you are ever given blood which wasn't originally yours, you will subsequently develop immunoglobulins against some of the antigens that were on that blood and that means your subsequent blood donations would have those immunoglobulins in which could very readily attack someone else.
I'm not entirely sure if however, your blood might still be accepted and used for something other than whole blood donation- there are more things on the menu than just whole blood, there are proteins, clotting factors and platelets in blood and these are also harvested and used as appropriate.
Interestingly, as I explained just a moment ago, it's not just red cells in your blood- there are your white cells in there also. When they are transfusing your blood into people with existing health problems like immunosuppression, they have to give irradiated blood instead. The radiation wipes out the white cells present and makes them no longer active, but leaves the red cells (which have no nucleus to irradiate) behind. The white cells in it then won't play havoc with the immune system or try to attack the 'host'. This is called graft vs host disease.
The 300 permutations thing is why before any blood transfusion is given, some of the donated blood and some of the person due to receive it is taken to the lab and mixed to see if any cross-reaction occurs. You can keep track of A,B, AB and O, plus Rhesus +/- easily but you just can't tell if any of the other 300 combinations will meddle with your plans.
Interesting stuff, blood.
Everyone is familiar with the old O, A,B and AB blood groups, right? Well basically, you can't ever receive blood that is incompatible with your immune system. Now, regardless of whether you are A, AB or B, everyone naturally develops immunoglobulins to the antigens that your own red cells do not have- I have never recieved any blood or blood products in my life, but supposing I was blood group B, I will have anti-A immunoglobulins on board in my blood. This means that if I was to receive any A type blood, the extremely paranoid, shotgun wielding and partially sighted old man that makes up my immune system would go mental and launch an attack against that A type blood- because the red cells in it will have A antigens on them and there is already specific ammunition on hand for them. The people who are universal receivers are people who have the AB blood group- they have all the antigens going and so won't launch an attack against A or B or AB blood. Better yet, those O type blood folk have red cells with no antigens and so you can give that to someone nearly regardless of what blood type the receiver might be.
Only it's not that simple. Not only do you have to factor in if someone is Rhesus positive or negative, but the O, A,B and AB blood group system is actually just 1 (and to be fair it's the biggest one) of over 300 antigenic permutations that we know of (we're still finding more today) in human blood. Because of this, it is likely that if you are ever given blood which wasn't originally yours, you will subsequently develop immunoglobulins against some of the antigens that were on that blood and that means your subsequent blood donations would have those immunoglobulins in which could very readily attack someone else.
I'm not entirely sure if however, your blood might still be accepted and used for something other than whole blood donation- there are more things on the menu than just whole blood, there are proteins, clotting factors and platelets in blood and these are also harvested and used as appropriate.
Interestingly, as I explained just a moment ago, it's not just red cells in your blood- there are your white cells in there also. When they are transfusing your blood into people with existing health problems like immunosuppression, they have to give irradiated blood instead. The radiation wipes out the white cells present and makes them no longer active, but leaves the red cells (which have no nucleus to irradiate) behind. The white cells in it then won't play havoc with the immune system or try to attack the 'host'. This is called graft vs host disease.
The 300 permutations thing is why before any blood transfusion is given, some of the donated blood and some of the person due to receive it is taken to the lab and mixed to see if any cross-reaction occurs. You can keep track of A,B, AB and O, plus Rhesus +/- easily but you just can't tell if any of the other 300 combinations will meddle with your plans.
Interesting stuff, blood.
Hilly
Member
- Location
- Scottish Borders.
Last time i gave blood stood in the effing que for
Over an hour dis organised as hell , stopped going i aint got time to waste standing
In ques …. Which with a little organisation need not be , they dont help themselves .
Over an hour dis organised as hell , stopped going i aint got time to waste standing
In ques …. Which with a little organisation need not be , they dont help themselves .
- Location
- East Essexshire
They don't want mine - too much malaria in it!
ollie989898
Member
You may be able to donate it to science instead. Giving clinicians insight into how you are still alive could one day save others.
Where you got this Malaria from?
I never seen people with Malaria in my whole life before, only Dengue.
Its changed a lot since it went "private - ish".
You get a text saying where yours ended up and such like.
And the range of biscuits improved greatly.
- Location
- East Essexshire
I actually live in the Dengie Hundred!
But the first time I caught malaria was in Victoria Falls.
Princess Pooper
Member
- Location
- East Mids
I was a blood donor from when I was a student, to 2015 when I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and the meds I am now on would have knocked it on the head anyway. As I rarely went abroad and have never had children , I was able to clock up 54 donations. I always confidently ticked the box saying I never had a transfusion. Fortunately I persuaded Prince Pooper to become a donor soon after we married and as he is O - he is kinda useful and he has now almost caught me up.If you are ever given a blood transfusion then you are basically ineligible to donate blood again. This isn't because you're now persona non grata due to an infection risk- it's for another reason I shall explain now.
Everyone is familiar with the old O, A,B and AB blood groups, right? Well basically, you can't ever receive blood that is incompatible with your immune system. Now, regardless of whether you are A, AB or B, everyone naturally develops immunoglobulins to the antigens that your own red cells do not have- I have never recieved any blood or blood products in my life, but supposing I was blood group B, I will have anti-A immunoglobulins on board in my blood. This means that if I was to receive any A type blood, the extremely paranoid, shotgun wielding and partially sighted old man that makes up my immune system would go mental and launch an attack against that A type blood- because the red cells in it will have A antigens on them and there is already specific ammunition on hand for them. The people who are universal receivers are people who have the AB blood group- they have all the antigens going and so won't launch an attack against A or B or AB blood. Better yet, those O type blood folk have red cells with no antigens and so you can give that to someone nearly regardless of what blood type the receiver might be.
Only it's not that simple. Not only do you have to factor in if someone is Rhesus positive or negative, but the O, A,B and AB blood group system is actually just 1 (and to be fair it's the biggest one) of over 300 antigenic permutations that we know of (we're still finding more today) in human blood. Because of this, it is likely that if you are ever given blood which wasn't originally yours, you will subsequently develop immunoglobulins against some of the antigens that were on that blood and that means your subsequent blood donations would have those immunoglobulins in which could very readily attack someone else.
I'm not entirely sure if however, your blood might still be accepted and used for something other than whole blood donation- there are more things on the menu than just whole blood, there are proteins, clotting factors and platelets in blood and these are also harvested and used as appropriate.
Interestingly, as I explained just a moment ago, it's not just red cells in your blood- there are your white cells in there also. When they are transfusing your blood into people with existing health problems like immunosuppression, they have to give irradiated blood instead. The radiation wipes out the white cells present and makes them no longer active, but leaves the red cells (which have no nucleus to irradiate) behind. The white cells in it then won't play havoc with the immune system or try to attack the 'host'. This is called graft vs host disease.
The 300 permutations thing is why before any blood transfusion is given, some of the donated blood and some of the person due to receive it is taken to the lab and mixed to see if any cross-reaction occurs. You can keep track of A,B, AB and O, plus Rhesus +/- easily but you just can't tell if any of the other 300 combinations will meddle with your plans.
Interesting stuff, blood.
However, talking to Mum a few months ago about her difficulties with childbirth, (Rhesus incompatibility), she thinks as a Rhesus baby, I may have had a blood transfusion in my first week.
She's not sure - she had 6 children and other than the firstborn, we were all premature Caesars hoiked out before she miscarried us, and were all jaundiced and / or blue and some of us needed transfusions and some didn't. She also had some stillborns and miscarriages. Thank goodness for the anti-D injections nowadays!Her medical records were lost about 30 years ago when she moved practice (is it true that infant records are or used to be recorded on the maternal record rather than their own?)
ollie989898
Member
I was a blood donor from when I was a student, to 2015 when I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and the meds I am now on would have knocked it on the head anyway. As I rarely went abroad and have never had children , I was able to clock up 54 donations. I always confidently ticked the box saying I never had a transfusion. Fortunately I persuaded Prince Pooper to become a donor soon after we married and as he is O - he is kinda useful and he has now almost caught me up.
However, talking to Mum a few months ago about her difficulties with childbirth, (Rhesus incompatibility), she thinks as a Rhesus baby, I may have had a blood transfusion in my first week.
Her medical records were lost about 30 years ago when she moved practice (is it true that infant records are or used to be recorded on the maternal record rather than their own?)
Cripes, that all sounds very familiar- rhesus may well have been the cause. Basically, the majority of people are rhesus positive but some people are negative. If a mother is rhesus negative then they can begin producing immunoglobulins against it due to the exposure they have of foetal blood.
There are also some rarer ailments that have a genetic basis which result in some similar things but they tend to be found in people of Africa/Mediterranean or Middle eastern descent.
Princess Pooper
Member
- Location
- East Mids
I had known about the Rhesus incompatibility for years - one reason that I was proud to be a blood donor as I knew that an understanding of blood had saved my life - but I didn’t know I might have had a transfusion, nor any of my several brothers who were also donors!
ollie989898
Member
If there were any unexpected antigens in there it would show up on the compatibility test in the laboratory. You can have some unusual reactions to blood transfusions which is why the safest option is always no transfusion but it's not always that simple.
Av Gorritt
Member
- Location
- NE Ches / SE Lancs
I gave two lots of blood many tears back . I then went down with jaundice which apparently prevents me from ever giving blood again . just as an aside , I didn't know jaundice was a notifiable disease . It is apparently
ollie989898
Member
I have not heard that. Certainly some causes of jaundice are notifiable diseases though.
Something I learned just recently- a good portion of the UK populace has been infected with hepatitis E at some point in their lives. Through consuming undercooked pork. Fortunately most of us will have shrugged it off.
kiwi pom
Member
- Location
- canterbury NZ
Apparently from Thursday I will be able to donate blood if I want to.
Couldn't up until now because I lived in Blighty during BSE times.
Took them a while to lift the restrictions
Couldn't up until now because I lived in Blighty during BSE times.
Took them a while to lift the restrictions
badger nadgers
Member
I moved from blood donation at a mobile session to platelet donation at a centre. They give you an appointment time. Whether they do the same on whole blood sessions there I don't know, and there is the issue of whether you are near a centre. I'm about 23 miles from the one in Etruria (Stoke) which isn't too bad.
Took a trundle in yesterday.
I`m signed up for "Our future health" so my paperwork goes in a special poly folder.
Into the room for the iron test, sample is a bit slow to sink, so onto the machine of dread.
Scored 134............. acceptable limit is 135.
Home you go.
No biscuits.
I`m signed up for "Our future health" so my paperwork goes in a special poly folder.
Into the room for the iron test, sample is a bit slow to sink, so onto the machine of dread.
Scored 134............. acceptable limit is 135.
Home you go.
No biscuits.