World Blood Donor Day: Benefits of Regular Blood Donation
World Blood Donor Day, observed on 14th June, is used to spread awareness about the importance of blood donation and also to thank donors who were willing to donate their blood for others. Donating blood regularly is an important task to make sure that safe blood and its products are always available.
World Health Organisation maintains that most of the time patients who are in need of blood transfusion do not have access to it. Blood transfusion can save lives in many cases especially when patients are suffering from life threatening conditions.
While the benefits of blood transfusion are known to everyone, what is not known is that blood donation is also beneficial for the donors. Dr Sandeep Jassal, doctor of alternative medicine mentions how blood donation is beneficial for donors:
Donating blood regularly helps you to maintain appropriate body weight and helps in keeping you fit. According to a recent study conducted by University of California, donating 450ml of blood burns 650 calories. But it is always best to consult a doctor before donating blood. Blood donation should not be encouraged as a method of weight loss.
Blood donation helps prevent Hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis is a health condition in which the body absorbs excess of iron. Donating blood regularly prevents the body from absorbing excess iron thus, helping people with hemochromatosis. It is always important to make sure that the person qualifies the criteria necessary for donating blood.
Maintaining the proper level of iron in body helps to reduce heart disease and cancer. When the body has more amount of iron than necessary, it becomes prone to aging, heart attacks and strokes. Donating blood regularly can help you to lower the risks of heart attack and cancer.
Donating blood helps to produce new blood cells in the body. Body works automatically and replaces the lost blood within 30 to 60 days. This helps the donor to be healthy.
Encouraging people to donate blood to help others is one of the primary aims of observing World Blood Donor Day. Making people aware of the health benefits of donating blood would encourage more people to donate blood. This would also encourage people who are uncertain to donate blood for the noble causes.