Who Benefits From Blood Donation?

There are patients who suffer from various blood disorders and need constant transfusions to ensure that their body has the ability to fight against diseases. These patients suffer from long standing blood issues and serious life threatening complications. For them every drop of blood counts. It is also important that you donate blood if your blood type is rare. Following are the list of few patients that need blood transfusions:

• Thalassemia patients – Patients with Thalassemia have low hemoglobin as they have problem in RBC production and they are dependent on blood transfusion for their whole life, unless bone marrow transplantation done, which is curative.
• Blood cancers and aplastic anemia patients – Patients with blood cancer and aplastic anemia also need blood transfusion along with definitive treatment. Solid malignancy patients also need blood transfusion if they receive  chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
• Pregnant women – Pregnant ladies also have anemia due to increased requirement by fetus and sometimes become so anemic that they need blood transfusion. Young girls sometimes have excessive bleeding during menstruation and may need blood transfusion if not controlled with medication.
• Surgery Patients -Patients undergoing major surgery sometimes need blood transfusion after surgery as they lose blood during surgery.
• Trauma – Patients following trauma, an accident, loose blood and become anemic, they need urgent transfusion to save their life.
• Patients with infections– Patients with severe malaria, dengue fever, sepsis become anemic or they may have low platelet count and they need blood transfusion.
• Patients with Bleeding Disorder– Patients with bleeding disorder like Hemophilia, VWD or platelet function disorder, patients bleed excessively spontaneously or following trauma and they need blood transfusion or product derived from blood like factor concentrates.

If you know anyone who needs blood transfusion regularly, it is best that you contribute to his or her wellness. Blood donation is a noble gesture that helps not just the donor but also the patient .