Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: neilep on 26/06/2004 12:48:46
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I've heard (yes...I know I keep on hearing things !)...that if you donate blood regulary that it dramatically reduces your cholesterol.
Is this true and if so why ?
Your bloody low fat answers are appreciated....Ta[:)]
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Hi, i hope i don't show myself up too much by asking this, but how does giving blood frequently cause health problems in old age? maybe what I've heard goes as far back as the 'blood letting' thought to cure practically everything in the middle ages (or whenever -history isn't my forte), but i was always under the impression that giving blood did no harm at all, and maybe even some good?
I had a bad experience giving blood about a year ago when the nurse punctured almost everything in my arm but the vein, caused me to faint, gave me a huge bruise and loss of use of my arm for a week. so any excuse to keep me from going back again would be welcome!!
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quote:
Originally posted by qazibasit
no it is not true it just lowers your blood cholestrol which is already very low and if you donate your blood you will face a bit problem if you want to lower your cholestrol level just start swimming for about half an hour daily besides normal work coz frequent blood donation cause health problems in old age.
So it does actually lower your cholesterol then.....do you know how long the effect lasts ?...I wasn't initially thinking that it could be dangerous but if you had high cholesterol then what are the possibilities that it could help ?....I mean...it's not as if I was thinking of giving blood every week !!..I woulddn't be allowed to anyway...I think they suggest every six months just to donate...which is what I used to do.
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quote:
Originally posted by fishytails
Hi, i hope i don't show myself up too much by asking this, but how does giving blood frequently cause health problems in old age? maybe what I've heard goes as far back as the 'blood letting' thought to cure practically everything in the middle ages (or whenever -history isn't my forte), but i was always under the impression that giving blood did no harm at all, and maybe even some good?
I had a bad experience giving blood about a year ago when the nurse punctured almost everything in my arm but the vein, caused me to faint, gave me a huge bruise and loss of use of my arm for a week. so any excuse to keep me from going back again would be welcome!!
That's a new one on me Lindsay...it'll be interesting what some lovely nice medical people have to say about that...but I like you always heard that giving blood is actually good for you...but I do think there is an age limit to giving, so perhaps the age thing is applicable.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience....have you given blood again since ?
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no way! far too scared! I never was very good at it anyway, it always took the maximum amount of time to get the blood out, then even after the tea and biscuit i would always fell very light headed for ages. it takes all my willpower not to curl up under a hedge for a sleep on the walk home. might give it a miss for a little longer!
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...I gave blood for a while....then just didn't get round to it again...luckily I never felt any ill effects.....but..at least you can console yourself that you have done it and helped someone.....which is nice !! (ahhhhhhhhhh...I think I'm gonna be sick !![:D])
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I've never heard that giving blood is bad for you, but I know we generally don't take blood from the very young or very old, I guess because their bodies take longer to replace the loss. I would suspect that any lowering of cholesterol would be due to a dilutional effect. Within 14 - 21 days, the blood should be replaced and the cholesterol back where it was prior to the blood letting.
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Yes, blood donation will reduce your cholesterol - by a tiny amount for a very brief period while your body makes more...
There are 2 sources of cholesterol - exogenous (dietary) and endogenous (made inside your cells). Cholesterol in the blood stream is picked up by cells and used in a variety of processes including hormone synthesis (e.g. vitamin D) and in cell membranes. When cholesterol enters a cell it binds with SREs - steroid response elements - which, when bound to cholesterol, act as 'breaks' on the production line by blocking the pathway which makes cholesterol inside the cell. In this way, if there is sufficient cholesterol in the diet the body doesn't make more, but if there is too little cholesterol in the diet the body switches on cholesterol synthesis in cells to make up for the shortfall. Overall, therefore, the amount of cholesterol in your diet makes almost no difference to total cholesterol because what you don't eat you will make. What does make a difference to circulating cholesterol levels, however, is total dietary fat intake and total body weight.
The higher your fat intake, the higher your serum cholesterol because cholesterol is secreted in bile to emulsify and absorb fats and then travels around the body with the digested fats until it is scavenged by the liver.
Chris
"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception"
- Groucho Marx
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yes i already said that it will just reduce your blood cholesterol to a very tiny level but this will cause a lot of damage to your bone marrow which is capable to create a limited amount of RBCs and overloading it will cause you problem in later stage coz RBCs are destroyed after every 120 days of its formation..
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qazibasit - please stop posting utter nonsense which is a) completely wrong and b) pays no heed to material which has already been posted. What you have said above is complete crap.
Please consider this a polite warning.
"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception"
- Groucho Marx
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well i can give you references, old RBCs are destroyed after 120 days and new RBCs are formed by the bone marrow you ppl dont know anything and you try do increase your posts.
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I know how long a red blood cell lasts thank you. I was actually referring to your comment that giving blood "will cause a lot of damage to your bone marrow which is capable to create a limited amount of RBCs and overloading it will cause you problem in later stage".
This is utter crap. Giving blood does not cause marrow strain nor deprive you of the ability to regenerate RBC's. The amount collected is less than 10% of your circulating volume and is quite safe when collected under appropriate conditions.
I presume that you are in medical training or something similar. As such you have a duty to provide your patients (and potential patients) with accurate information. To dish out inaccurate rubbish (like that cited above) is extremely poor medical practice. It is misleading and potentially dangerous. If you don't know something, please don't say anything. If you would like to know something, please ask. But please don't be rude to me by suggesting that I don't know what I'm talking about.
We welcome your input, but please ensure that what you write is accurate - many people read this forum and may easily be misled.
Chris
"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception"
- Groucho Marx
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Thanks for putting gazi right there Chris....although I had doubts about the authority of his original answer with regards to bone marrow....he did make me reconsider (for a little while) whether there was any truth in his statement and therefore my future blood contribution donations.
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The American Heart Association and other health organizations do not list donating blood as a means of lowering cholesterol and protecting yourself against heart disease. If you choose to give blood, you should not abandon other methods recommended for improving heart health. MayoClinic.com advocates that you limit the amount of cholesterol, saturated fat and trans fat in your diet. Consume as little sugar as possible, add fiber to your diet and exercise regularly. If you smoke, you should stop. I found great posts about how to lower cholesterol in just a couple of weeks (http://loweringcholesterolguide.com/) on lowering cholesterol guide . com site!