and the ultimate means of saving life.
2007-07-04 14:00:00 · 5 answers · asked by flordeliz l 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
Confused by your question. Is there a risk to tranfuse blood to patients? Do you mean a risk to the patient who gets the blood? Or do you mean a risk to the person who gives the blood?
If you mean a risk to the patient who gets the blood - no, there is no risk - it can save their lives. The professionals test the blood, check the type so that it matches the patient's type, plus they check it for diseases, drugs, viruses like HIV and many other things. So, by the time blood is available for patients, it is safe. And yes, it is vital to life, so when a patient comes into a hospital bleeding profusely, they may need many pints of life-saving blood.
If you are asking if there is a risk to the person who gives blood for use in transfusions - no, there is no risk. You go to a blood center, such as the Red Cross or a hospital when they do a blood drive. You are only allowed to donate one pint, and you are safe, After, they give you orange juice and cookies for energy. Your body constantly makes blood, so when you donate blood, the pint you gave will be replaced within 48 hours. You can only donate blood once every 2 weeks safely.
Blood is vital to life, and it is good to donate blood to help those who need it. You can actually donate blood and have it stored in case something happens to you and you need some. This way you get your own blood back. But either way, it is safe.
2007-07-04 14:36:49 · answer #1 · answered by palemalefriend 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
As the above poster stated, there are definite risks to getting blood. Probably no risk of giving blood, the amount that is taken out is probably too small to cause any issues, unless you were very sick to begin with, or unless you were a little light-headed and crashed into a tree on your way home.
There is a definite risk of getting the wrong blood. Despite all of our checks , mistakes still happen. If you get the wrong blood, you can have a life-threatening reaction. Even if you get the right blood, there is a risk of having a fever reaction, risk of having allergic reactions (hives, etc).
The risk of infection is still there too, although vastly reduced with modern screening. The risk of HIV is very low, less than 1/500,000. Hep B is about 1/200,000, Hep C is 1/75,000 (I think, these may be old numbers). Keep in mind that the risk of dying in a car crash each year is 1/10,000 , so the risk is very very low. But it is not zero.
In addition, even if nothing happens, more and more evidence exists to suggest that transfused blood may actually suppress the immune system. There may be an association with getting blood and worse outcomes as found in some studies. It is much less efficient at transferring oxygen than fresh blood, and may actually worsen oxygen delivery by increasing blood viscosity. Large scale transfusions are associated with lung injury, clotting problems. More and more, the threshold at which we transfuse blood is falling, because the risks are greater than we anticipated.
Of course, if you are asked to sign a blood transfusion consent, it's probably a good idea to do so. Despite all the negatives listed above, there are still many good reasons to get blood. The physicians know the issues involved and probably won't transfuse frivolously.
2007-07-05 09:58:57 · answer #2 · answered by al_ju_2000 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes.Blood is divided into A--B--AB--O groups. and also divided to Rh Negative and Rh Positive.Group and Rh compatability is to be studied.The blood to be transfused is to be seen whether it is VDRL negative and negative for hepatitis antibodies.-No malarial or filarial parasites-Now a days it is also studied whether the blood to be transfused is HIV Negative--Hb content- .Only after carefully studying all these aspects Blood will be tranfused.Donating Blood for a needy patient will not cause any risk to the donor-it is a service to Society.
2007-07-04 14:14:11 · answer #3 · answered by ssrvj 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Palemalefriend is incorrect. There is a risk both to the donor and recipient in blood transfussion. The risk may be far outweighed by the benefits, but there is a risk.
2007-07-04 18:44:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off, cute use of flor de lis. ;-) Next, the human body has quite a bit of blood in it. As long as you only donate small amounts, you are safe and will not suffer for it. Now... If someone asks you to donate all of it, don't do it. :-)
2007-07-04 14:08:53 · answer #5 · answered by Cate Rice 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋