alright i didnt look to see if theres a topic on this already, so if there is, srry.

but what are the pros & cons on donating blood???

i donated blood in december. im only 17. im thinkin about donating blood again in feb. by the way it was a pint. is it healthy to donate??

Wikipedia! :]

I've only heard of one con when donating blood and that was because the nurse messed up while taking out the blood. Other than that, it's a great cause that is relatively easy to make as long as you make the right preperations and have healthy blood. Wherever your going to donate, go to them and make sure that you qualify, then they'll tell you everything you need to do before donating.

I wouldn't know that much because I'm too young to donate blood. But I do know some things from my Bio class! :D

To answer your question, yes, it is definitely healthy to donate blood. As long as you don't donate too much.

Cons:
If you donate too much, your body won't be able to get enough oxygen to preform cellular respiration (for energy), so you'll feel fatigued.. And I think it might be bad for your immune system too.
But that's only if you donate too much.

Pros:
You could possibly save someone's life.
AND you get cookies!

i really want to donate some later on. our school has a blood fundraiser in may. i plan on doing it since im 17 this year. (and the requrement is 17 and up)

just make sure you dont stand up too fast. my friend told me a story that her dad once doanted blood and thought it would be a great idea to go work out. he fainted.

Really? I could've sworn it was 16. If you're under 16, you just need your parents to sign a waiver. Then you sign up for a certain time, go down there, nurses extract blood and give you food, and you miss a whole class period!


Pros:

• With a pint of blood, you can save up to 3 lives
• You get to miss a whole class, possibly two!
• You get free food and drinks and an item of clothing
• You'll feel good for helping people

Cons:

• You're really tired/feel sick afterwards
• The nurse might've had to poke you a couple of times to find your vein?

^yea. well, its suppose to be 18. but if youre under 18, then you need someone to sign for you. but, you have to be 17 in order to do it.

^ I guess it varies, because I know some people who were only 16.

LOL my god...I remember I did this a couple weeks after I turend 16 last October (minimum age to donate blood) at my school, cause Stanford Blood Drive comes every year. Basically I fainted 3/4 into donating blood and now everyone knows.

So I guess don't donate if you're too young...or underweight. I was right at the border. It's not bad for you; your body is able to replace the missing blood 24 hrs later.

you have to be over 110 lbs to donate blood... im about 120-125.
over here you have to be 17.

i fainted afterwards but according to the nurse, it was because i didnt eat enough before giving the blood. they had no trouble finding my vein, and when she stuck the needle in blood squirted everywhere and i had a white shirt on too cuz i had a chorus concert for a middle school that morning.. i was down in the van from 12-210..but only cuz i fainted.

i jsut heard that once you start donating blood you have to do it everytime cuz youre body gets used to it. is this true???

They're very strict on the weight thing. My friend weighed in at 109.5 and they wouldn't let him donate blood. The heavier you are, the more 'blood' you have and I'm guessing the effects will vary with body weight as well. So if you're borderline, then I'm assuming the after-effects are going to be "greater", because technically, percentage wise, you are losing more blood than somebody who weighs 170lbs. Aw man, I'm like in the borderline, plus a couple pounds. This is not going to be pleasant. Not like there's anything pleasant about having a needle in your arm, extracting your blood.

I've never heard it. Your body get use to losing blood all the time? Even if it does, which would take a lot more than one donation I'm guessing, it doesn't mean you'll have to continue doing it. It just means that your body is use to it so your reaction would be less dramatic. I don't know.

its good. but you never know if you get shot with an infected needle or not and get like hiv or something.

but i wouldn't do it. i'm scared of needles as it is.

It's not healthy or unhealthy to donate blood. It's just that you might feel tired after donating it since your body has just lost some blood and needs to regenerate blood cells to get you back to normal.


No, I'm pretty sure that hasn't happened in many years ever since blood screening for HIV/other diseases began. Also, nurses and doctors never, ever reuse needles and they're supposed to take a new one out of its little box every time for each patient.

Normally, it shouldnt happened. We're not that far stupid. Every hospital should know about hiv/aids PREVENTION. Well, they must.



Your statement is like, " you'll never know if you drink a canned soup with contaminated liquid"

Wow, in my area, the minimum age for a blood donor is 18 and with a minimum weight of 110 lbs.
The good thing is that it's satisfactory to save lives.
The bad thing, well, depending on your health, you might get sick. Or that the nurse would mess up finding your vein.
My teacher has done it before and it got messed up that blood was "splashing everywhere that people around him got blood stains on their clothes." Maybe he's exaggerating but it's definitely a messed-up situation.

im doing it next wed!! its for our school. the minimum age here is 16. and the minimum weight is 110. you just have to get parental consent if your 16. and im not 110..but..we can pretend i am.

mm, and i think you donate a pint of blood.
at least i get a free t shirt.

all i got was a cd case, i thi nk i should use it.

and if they have a weight restriction, it must be for a reason. so i dont think itll be a good idea if you weigh 100lbs and give away a pint of blood. i mean yea its for a good cause and what not... but itll prolly have some effect on your body since youre so tiny

^well, im about 105.

i mean, its 5 lbs. will it really matter that much?

Yeah, my friend was 109.5 and they wouldn't let him donate blood. They're nazis about it, but for a good reason.

..they actually weigh you?

I would, if A) I wasn't scared of blood and B) I didn't get hives so often.
I don't think it would be a good idea to pass on my allergies to seafood and the like to someone.

I love giving blood. i think its like one of the only things i can do to give back.

there are necessarily no bad things about giving blood. as long as you give it a specific time period before eat donation.

its good to donate blood cause you replenish your blood, once you give your blood it starts producing more blood cells.

so go ahead give blood.

make sure you eat some meat the night before. or try to eat breakfast cause they wont take your blood if you dont have enough iron.

Yup!

Hives and allergies aren't transferrable by blood...?

i was under weight but my dad said i shouldnt because it could be dirty or something would happen. idk it was through my school

Well, I know that you needa be a certain age to donate...was it 18? There are a bunch of other ridiculous rules like not being able to be gay and everything. The only down side is they might miss the vein or you get dizzy for a bit.

Well the second time I donated, I told them what happened, so they used a smaller needle and said they were going to take less blood. Next Monday I'm doing it for a thirrrrd time!

If your blood type is 0 Negative and you fit the weight and age requirement, DO IT. Don't question it, just do it. You bounce right back (within a day, typically). If you have anemia then of course you shouldn't (they usually do a finger prick test beforehand to test for anemia).

do it. no doubt.
just make sure you do a little research and find out who's the best-a lot of people are getting lazy these days and mess up a alot.
but if you fit the requirements, just do it. my mommy works at Community Blood Center, and I tell you it's the COOLEST thing ever. they give you drinks and cookies and such when you're done-the biggest mistake people make is they don't realize they can't exercise and such. walking 30 minutes could literally make you pass out. if you take care of yourself and do some reasearch, maybe ask around for the best, you'll be fine.
i would 100% do it though. good luck. :]

I've heard donating blood is bad because they take the plasma out of it, which your body needs, and essentially you are harming your body.

I don't really remember exactly why, but my science teacher made it clear that it wasn't good for you.

that's BS...have you even seen the amount of plasma they take out of you?
it's harmless.

edit: forget what I said.

I was thinking of plasma donation. LOL

yea your science teacher wasnt telling you the truth lol.

i'm never gonna donate blood. Not for anybody.

I think it's a good thing but I can't because I lived in England for 2 yrs.

Why not? If you don't mind me asking (and you totally don't have to answer if you do).

I guess I'm just a blood donating advocate.

There's been an article in Time- think it was in an issue sometime last week- talking about how donated blood can be dangerous...and not from like contamination or anything, but cuz using it increases the patient's risk of heart failure =/ So now, doctors wait longer before using blood transfusions

I missed the last blood drive at my school, so I'm strongly considering donating blood next time, which is in January I think. I'm just not looking forward to doing the surveys and questions and things like that. :-/

I'd really like to give blood, it's just finding the time!

I think donating blood is good, although, I'm quite afraid of needles and I tend to shy away from it as much as I can. Even those doctor test that require you to have a blood sample, I freak out. I encourage you to do it as long as you meet the rules and regulations for it.

It's good for society.

our school is nuts about donating blood. i think most people are peer-pressured into it, haha. anyhoo, pshs supposedly has the largest high school blood drive in the nation and i haven't heard any horror stories about donating blood.

my older brother was pretty lightweight when he did the drive and he 'recovered' fully, generally taking about one or two days.

i'd love to donate blood, but i don't fit the age requirements yet :/ i'm also worried because my weight fluctuates madly and i'm definitely not overeating just so i can donate blood for a day...

I can't donate blood because I lived in England, so they assume I have mad cow disease.

But alot of people at our school donate blood. You get free t-shirts, and cookies, and you can get out of class. :)