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FACTS ABOUT BLOOD; BLOOD INFORMATION; BLOOD TESTING FACTS;
BLOOD TRANSFUSION FACTS; BLOOD DONATION FACTS; CORD BLOOD; SELL YOUR
BLOOD; BLOOD SAFETY; BLOOD TRANSFUSION. |
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General Blood Facts
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Blood Donation || Blood Testing/Safety ||
Uses of Blood || World Blood Facts
BLOOD FACTS in
GENERAL
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There is no substitute for human Blood.
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Blood makes up about 7% of your body's weight.
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An average adult has about 14 to 18 pints of Blood.
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One standard unit or pint of Blood equals about two cups.
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Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to all of the body.
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Blood carries carbon dioxide and other waste products back to the lungs,
kidneys and liver for disposal.
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Blood fights against infection and helps heal wounds.
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One unit of donated whole Blood is separated into components before use
(red Blood cells, white Blood cells, plasma, platelets, etc.)
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There are four main Blood types: A, B, AB and O.
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Each Blood type is either Rh positive or negative.
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The three main types of cells making up our Blood are the White Blood
cells, Red Blood cells and Platelets: |
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White
Blood Cells (WBCs) are the largest of the three types of cells and
are responsible for fighting infections or germs. White Blood cells have
a rather short life cycle, living from a few days to a few weeks. One
drop of Blood can contain from 7,000 to 25,000 white Blood cells. If an
invading infection fights back and persists, that number will
significantly increase.
Red Blood Cells (RBCs) make up approximately 40% of Blood volume,
carry oxygen to the cells of your body and return to the lungs to
excrete carbon dioxide.
Platelets, the smallest of the Blood cells; make up 5% to 7% of
total Blood volume. Platelets form a 'mesh' net to form clots in the
Blood to help stop bleeding. |
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There are five types of White Blood Cells (WBCs): |
basophil
- acts on smooth muscle and Blood cell walls;
eosiniphil - acts against infestations of parasitic larvae;
lymphocyte - recognizes surface markers on cells and targets them
for destruction if foreign to the body;
monocyte - formed bone marrow, monocytes migrate into connective
tissue and become macrophages; and,
neutrophil - the first line of defense, 100 billion mature
neutrophils are released into the body everyday. |
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There are about one billion red Blood cells in a few drops of whole
Blood.
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Red Blood cells live about 120 days in our bodies.
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Red Blood cells can be stored under normal conditions for up to 42 days.
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Frozen red Blood cells can be stored for ten years, and more.
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Platelets must be used within five days.
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Platelets are small Blood cells that assist in the process of Blood
clotting helping those with leukemia and other cancers, controlling
bleeding.
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Plasma, the fourth major component of Blood, is a sticky, pale yellow
fluid mixture of water, protein and salts. It is 95% water. The other 5%
is made up of nutrients, proteins and hormones.
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Blood Plasma constitutes 55% of the volume of human Blood.
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Plasma helps maintain Blood pressure, carries Blood cells, nutrients,
enzymes and hormones, and supplies critical proteins for Blood clotting
and immunity.
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Plasma can be collected from a normal healthy donor twice weekly (max.
every 48 hours) and is the most frequently donor paid-for component of
Blood. Plasma is often referred to as "the college students beer money."
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Type AB plasma has been considered as the universal Blood plasma type,
and therefore AB plasma is given to patients with any Blood type.
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Frozen Plasma can be stored for up to one year.
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Human Blood; red Blood cells, white Blood cells, plasma and platelets
are made naturally by the body in the bone marrow.
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Learn the St.
Joseph™
"Pump, Pump, Pumps Your Blood" song,
CLICK HERE.
ABOUT BLOOD CENTERS and DONATION
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In the United States, approximately 16 million units of Blood are said
to be collected annually. As of November 2000, the American Red Cross
(ARC) manages about 45% of the U. S. Blood supply, The American
Association of Blood Banks (AABB) manages about 45%, and others such as
United Blood Services, manage the remaining 10%.
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The mission of Blood trade interest groups and Blood centers is to work
with government agencies and other entities to enhance Blood donor
screening practices, increase accuracy and types of disease testing,
improve Blood tracking systems and ensure good manufacturing practices.
These Blood centers and trade interest groups also work with news
organizations to improve confidence in the Blood supply.
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Approximately 40,000 units of Blood are used each day in the United
States; every few seconds someone needs Blood.
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Blood centers often run short of type O and B Blood.
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Shortages of all types of Blood often occur during the summer and winter
holidays.
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The actual Blood collection takes approximately 15 minutes. The entire
process, from when you sign in to the time you leave, takes about 45
minutes to one hour.
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Blood donation takes four steps: medical history, quick physical,
donation and snacks.
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Anyone who is in good health, is at least 17 years old and weighs at
least 110 pounds may donate Blood every 56 days.
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Only 5% of healthy Americans donate Blood.
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Multiple donations account for over 80% of Blood used for transfusions.
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One to two percent of Blood donors are African-American Black.
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Giving Blood, under normal rules, will not decrease your strength.
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Whole Blood can be donated as often as every 56 days, plasma, no more
frequently than every 48 hours, and platelets, a maximum of 24 times a
year.
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Cancer, transplant and trauma patients and people undergoing open-heart
surgery require Platelet transfusions to survive.
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Premature infants, children being treated for cancer, and children
having heart surgery need Blood and platelets from donors of all types.
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Apheresis selective Blood donation that allows a donor to give specific
Blood components, such as plasma and platelets.
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ABOUT BLOOD
TESTING and SAFETY
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Most Blood processing facilities perform 11 or 12 basic tests on every
unit of donated Blood. Nine of these are for infectious diseases. These
tests include screenings for: hepatitis (a liver infection); HIV (the
virus that causes AIDS); HTLV-I (a virus associated with a rare form of
leukemia); HTLV-II; and syphilis. Other tests are needed, but, are cost
prohibitive and therefore not performed. The World Health Organization
suggests only nine basic Blood tests.
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Approximately 95% of Blood samples taken are tested within 24 hours of
arrival at the Blood testing laboratory.
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In the United States, for some Blood centers, if testing indicates that
a unit of Blood may pose a threat to a patient, that Blood is destroyed.
The donor is then entered into the Donor Deferral Register, a national
computerized database of more than 250,000 known individuals who are
deferred from donating Blood. This system assumes honest donors when
selling or donating their Blood, or Blood products. At some point all
Blood centers must subscribe to this service.
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It matters, geographically, where we get a Blood transfusion. Click HERE
to view a Regional Risk of Transfusion Transmitted Disease chart.
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Every day more is learned about Blood chemistry and the Blood supply.
The Blood supply, therefore, is getting safer as more is known about the
makeup of Blood and Blood diseases. Looking at the big picture, little
is known to date.
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SOME EXAMPLES OF
AVERAGE BLOOD USE
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People older than 65 use 43% of all donated Blood. The demand for Blood
and Blood products will increase as the population ages.
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25% of all Blood products are used to treat cancer
patients.
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One out of every ten people entering a hospital requires Blood.
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Severe burn victims can need the platelets from about
20 Blood unit donations during their treatment.
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The average liver transplant patient needs 40 units of
red Blood cells, 30 units of platelets, 20 bags of Cryoprecipitate, and
25 units of fresh frozen plasma.
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Using modern techniques, one heart surgery uses, on
average, the red Blood cells and platelets provided by from six Blood
unit donations.
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People who have been in car accidents and suffered
massive Blood loss can need transfusions of 50 units or more of red
Blood cells.
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An organ transplant can use 40 units of Blood; 30 units
of platelets; 20 bags of cryoprecipitate; and 25 units of fresh frozen
plasma.
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The average bone marrow transplant requires the
platelets from about 120 donations, and the red Blood cells from about
20 Blood unit donations.
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BLOOD AROUND THE
WORLD.....
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17% of the global population in developed countries benefits from
approximately 60% of the 75 million units of Blood donated each year in
the world.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) requires only nine basic Blood
safety tests. Many countries require eleven or twelve or more.
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83% of the global population, living in developing countries, has access
to only 40% of the Blood supply, and this Blood is collected in 60% of
cases from paid or replacement donors rather than from voluntary
non-remunerated low-risk Blood donors. Moreover it is not tested for
transfusion-transmissible infection in more than 43% of cases. Avoiding
the transmission of infection by Blood and Blood product is the other
major safety issue, and the bigger issue in developed countries. It is
conservatively estimated that approximately 5% of HIV infections
world-wide are transmitted through the transfusion of contaminated Blood
and Blood products
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Pharmacy shelves are stocked with do-it-yourself home tests for Blood
glucose, Blood cholesterol paternity tests and pregnancy tests.
OraSure Technologies Inc., makes and sells a 20-minute, at-home test
that screens for two HIV strains using a swab device that tests
saliva, awaiting the FDA. |
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