Blood donation is a procedure which you and I need to follow with care, caution and responsibility. While donating blood is a noble thought, it still requires you to be careful about your own health before you stand outto help others.
Do it in the best perspective.Be more aware by studying the dos and don’ts of blood donation. There are certain conditions which may not make you an able blood donor. In other words, some conditions may disqualify you as a repeated blood donor for your own good and for others.
Thus, it is important to know such conditions.
1. If You Have Done Piercing/Tattoo
Refrain from donating your blood if you have done a body tattoo recently. Similarly, piercing or any sort of treatment that needed skin piercing, on you, means you must avoid donating blood for at least four months.
You are not fit to donate blood until that time. It is mainly to prevent the transfer of hepatitis virus from you to others.
2. You Are Suffering from Cold or Bad Flu
Any person suffering from fever, cold, or a productive cough should ideally avoid donating blood until he or she feels better.However, an individual, after exposure to someone with flu, can go ahead and donate blood if s/he feels no symptoms.
3. If You Are Physically Small or Don’t Weigh Enough
Individuals who are physically small, are not acceptable as blood donors. It is because their blood volumes are not very high or sufficient to be a blood donor.
A donor must be in the age group of 18-60 years in India. People who weigh less than 50kg are not in optimum health condition to donate blood. They may be suffering from an iron deficiency too.
4. If You Have Suffered or Are Suffering From Malaria
Any person suffering or have suffered from malaria cannot donate blood for at least 3 years. The parasite causing malaria can lay dormant in the human system for almost a year. Also, malaria can be contracted through blood transfusion or organ transplant.
It can also affect a healthy individual if you share needles with an infected person. If you are suffering from typhoid, you may need to wait for a year post your recovery to be fit to donate blood.
5. You Took Antibiotics Recently
Any person who has recently done a course of antibiotics, as a result of infection, is not acceptable as a blood donor. Some infections are transmissible in blood.
Anyone suffering from an acute bacterial infection must not donate for at least a month. Similarly, if you have taken rabies vaccination, you will need to wait for at least a year to be eligible as a blood donor.
6. If You Have leukaemiaor Any Other Type of Cancer
Individuals suffering from blood cancers (such as leukaemiaor lymphoma) cannot donate blood. Individuals suffering from other types of cancers including breast, prostate, brain, and lung, must temporarily refrain from donating blood.
They can donate blood after five years of diagnosis of cancer or five years from the date of last surgery, or chemotherapy treatment.
Other conditions which may disqualify you to be a blood donor include:
• Any person suffering from a psychotic disorder, hypertension, diabetes, or have undergone kidney alignments
• A person susceptible to cardiac arrest
• Any person suffering from the risk of blood clotting disorder like haemophilia
• ladies who are breastfeeding or have undergone a bad miscarriage should wait for the next 6 months
• Any person having undergone immunisation should wait for at least a month to be a donor
• If a person has consumed alcohol, s/he should wait for at least 24 hours to donate blood again
• Any individual who is HIV+
• Any person having undergone a majordental procedure must wait for at least a month to donate blood
Blood donation comes with the attached responsibility towards yourself and others. like we do all things in life carefully, you must also deem yourself fit to be a blood donor. Self-awareness and self-evaluation are of great importance. After all, we all need assurances in lifeIJ
Before we step out to help others, we should take care of own health and then, think about being able to donate blood and save lives.Furthermore, with the increase in lifestyle diseases, it is vital to be prepared for the worst.
For instance, with the increasing occurrence of cancer, it has become imperative to guard yourself financially against the spiralling treatment cost of this disease. That is why you mustconsider investing in cancer care plan to protect yourself against any financial strain if diagnosed with this deadly ailment.
Moreover, a standalone cancer care plan is comparatively cheaper than critical illness plan and helps cover cancer treatment expenses as well as other additional expenses easily.
The Bottom line:
Carefully read the terms and conditions before you buy cancer care policy. Similarly,read the fine print or requirements of being an able blood donor. Keep doing the good work!
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