Can thal minors donate blood?

Hi Guys,

I have never donated blood till now but off-late was thinking of doing so with so many camps being organised in our office and in our neighbourhood societies as well.

Wanted to check if at all thal minors can donate blood. Would the blood of a beta thal minor be good enough to be used by a non-thal. Can that create any type of complication for the one who has received that blood?

Its always better to be aware first rather than being guilty later.

Thanks,
Ginni

Hi Gini ,
How are you ??.. i hope you will be fine ... we have discussed this topic several times. here are the posts related to your Question ...
please check these posts ..

donate blood
http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php?topic=1904.0;highlight=donate+blood

BLOOD DONATION ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES IN THE US
http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php?topic=1905.0;highlight=donate+blood

Thal(Minor) and blood donation
http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php?topic=1393.0;highlight=donate+blood

Back from California Conference

BTW.. did you guys know that minors can donate blood? I donated a pint 2 weeks ago at a blood drive. I guess it all depends on your iron level.And mine was ok enough to donate. What a feeling, knowing I will help someone  It's amazing how i've gotton past the "gross out" part of the tx with Lauryn (getting someone elses blood). I turned my uncertainty into gratefulness. I wish everyone could feel this way.

http://www.thalassemiapatientsandfriends.com/index.php?topic=952.0;highlight=donate+blood

please check all links to understand it complete & clearly .....

Best Regards
Take Care
Umair

Ginni,

I know in the US, they allow Thal Minor's to donate blood. At a blood donation camp, last christmas in New York and while working with the NY Blood center, we got the following information.

From:- http://www.nybloodcenter.org/files/Media/29/mediumFilename/Med_Condition.pdf

On Page 17, it is mentioned that Thalassemia(Minor) can offer their blood, if their hemoglobin levels are normal. This is from New York Blood Center Website

Mostly what the blood services try to find out is that the HB levels are above normal (I think they look for it around 12.5 minimum - atleast that was the case with Children's Hospital Boston).

I have heard from many thal(Minor) that they have successfully donated blood. Also, in India due to blood shortage lot of thal patients parents do give their blood, so that they can get the required blood for their child. If you feel healthy and consider giving blood, drink lots of fluids and eat Iron rich food before giving blood.

Thal minor can donate blood in Canada as long as their hg is atleast 120. I am planning to donate starting December 2009 and confirmed it with the blood donor clinic.

Hi,

I once donated blood,it was before i knew i was a thal minor,crucial point is if your hb is good,your blood is as useful as any normal person,if hb levels are low,then it won't stay long in the recieving body.

Zaini.

I know many thal minors who donate blood, including my dad and my uncles. I have regular donors who are thal minors.

Thal minors are generally considered healthy and normal, meaning that even if some of the thal minors are affected by the thal genes to some degree, majority of them lead lives as normal people.

So when donating blood, they are subjected to the same requirements as any other normal person.

These include: appropraite age (18 years and above in Maldives) an Hb level of 12.5 (13 in Maldives) and above, a minimum weight of 50kg and above (again this varies with the volume of blood you want to donate.., one pint can be donated in Maldives only with a wieght of 55kg.. below this weight, lower amount of blood is taken from the donor)... and being in a general good health condition free from any infectious diseases or chronic illness...etc..

I think the blood donation guidline in US posted by Andy (link again posted by Umair in this thread) says it all..

I have a controversial thought to share... I don't remember if it wasn't already shared on this forum...

I read somewhere that the people without talassemia (without obvious iron overload) with higher liver iron content live shorter. There even was a study.
The article read that this is another incentive not to eat meat. It also read that women are better off with their menstrual bleeding (in terms of liver iron content).
So, I was thinking if blood donation can be treated as a health enhancing procedure. Me for example, I have slightly elevated liver iron content considering my age... I should probably have this iron content in about 10-15 years, and I have it now (due to talassemia of course, although I am minor, there is this slight overload - barely noticable)...
The idea is kind of ridiculous, and you'd have to be extra careful not to eat iron containing foods after the donation in order to see the effects.
But this would allow to get this iron out of your system...
Just a thought...

About the blood donation: it is possible to donate only some portion of the blood - the red blood cells are separated and returned to the bloodstream, the other portions like platelets are used for transfusions - this assures no stress to the body, and you still get to do a good deed.

B.

Actually, blood drawing is the main method of treating hereditary iron overload, hemachromatosis, so it is a good question and yes, it is one method of dealing with excess iron as long as the hematocrit is high enough to give blood.

Iron is implicated in many health problems, as iron feeds bacteria and viruses and even cancer. The reason IP6 has been studied as a cancer preventing agent is because it does chelate iron and also protects the cells from the iron induced damage. Without iron, cancer cannot grow.

I only know thal minors who are donating blood (or not) to get the ferritin down. I know it isn't an answer on your question...

Hi All

Very interesting thing i learnt when i was sent back from a blood donation drive in S'pore last week. i have been donating blood once a year for last few years and I was allowed most of the times, as I was able to maintain my hb at 12 due to the help of CENTRUM. However this year I think rules have changed in S'pore and now the new limit has been raised to 12.5. Hence I was not allowed to donate. Actually I insisted with the authorities  that let me donate and I can sign an undertaking that I will be liable for whatever risks that may arise. Also i happened to mention that in India the hb limit is not 12.5 which is really high for a Thal minor to have. In India there is such a population of thal minors that if we raise the hb to 12.5 , we will have a serious shortage of blood.

The Doctor also mentioned to me that when thal minor's donate the blood, as the thal minor's also have the rbc's being destroyed due to haemolysis a bit earlier than a person who is a non thal minor. So for thal kids who  are on regular transfusions,  and need the blood to last alteast 21 days it is better if the blood is being donated by a non thal minor person. Cos that blood will last him longer as compared to blood being donated by a thal minor who is also prone to haemolysis.

Now I am thinking that though I cannot donate blood in S'pore .. so should I continue to donate in India. Or should I stop, as according to the Doc it might not be that beneficial? or does it depend on a hb level. When thal minor's hb is 12 - is it still that haemolysis happens and we loose our Rbc's faster than the non thal -  Pls clarify my doubt.

Puja,

The Doctor also mentioned to me that when thal minor's donate the blood, as the thal minor's also have the rbc's being destroyed due to haemolysis a bit earlier than a person who is a non thal minor. So for thal kids who  are on regular transfusions,  and need the blood to last alteast 21 days it is better if the blood is being donated by a non thal minor person. Cos that blood will last him longer as compared to blood being donated by a thal minor who is also prone to haemolysis.

Since long i have had this doubt in my mind,seems like this doctor just confirmed it,i don't know about others,but when ever i test my hb,even if my hb is 11( which is accepted as normal here)  report always say microcytic anemia,which means my RBCs are smaller an paler then others,so you can imagine how long they will last after being extracted out of my body and then transfuse into another body,i am not sure if that's only my case or it can be attributed to thalassemia minor,but i think there is a connection,i think Andy will be able to shed some more light on it.

Zaini.

Yeah Zaini


I checked 4 hb reports of thal minors:
1. My brother's hb is 14.7 but as he is a  silent alpha carrier -  it said RBC Size Slightly Microcytic.
2.mine  (HB-12)also showed slightly microcytic.
3.My(HB -11.5) husbands report says size  - moderately microcytic.
4.my mother(Hb11.6) who is alpha 2 Thal minor  - Normocytic