How Many Days Do You Have to Wait to Donate Blood Again
Donating blood regularly is rubber and an important public service — here'south how often you can donate
- You should donate blood a max of 6 times per twelvemonth.
- You lot can donate platelets 24 times a year, and plasma 12 times a year.
- Pregnant women, people with anemia, dementia, or HIV should not donate claret.
- Visit Insider'due south Health Reference library for more advice.
If you lot give blood regularly, don't fret. Contrary to common misconceptions, blood donations are not associated with premature death or cancer. By donating claret, yous'll be saving multiple lives.
Every two seconds, someone in the U.s.a. needs some type of claret transfusion, and a single donation can save as many as three lives. Moreover, information technology'southward safe to donate blood several times a year, and institutions utilize sterile equipment for each donor to eliminate the risk of contracting infections.
That said, not everyone can go a blood donor. Certain health conditions may affect your eligibility to donate claret, such as dementia or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.
Hither'due south what you lot need to know most how to become a blood donor safely.
How often tin you donate claret?
When donating blood, there are several different ways to become about it. You tin can donate whole blood — everything in the vial. Or, y'all can donate blood components like plasma, red blood cells, and platelets, where a auto separates your blood into the various components and so returns the leftovers to your body.
The main difference between each donation is how often y'all can safely do it.
"You lot tin can donate whole blood every 56 days or up to half-dozen times a twelvemonth," says Bruce Sachais, MD, PhD, chief medical officer of the New York Claret Center. That's because, "it takes the trunk four to viii weeks to replace cherry-red blood cells," says Sachais." On the other hand, you can donate platelets and plasma more than ofttimes.
"Platelets may be donated upwardly to 24 times a year and plasma up to 12 times a year," says Sachais. You can donate more frequently because the body replaces plasma and platelets faster than cherry blood cells.
"Donating blood is a safe action," says Tho Pham, MD, master medical officer of the Stanford Claret Heart. Nevertheless, if you donate too frequently, y'all may develop anemia, a condition where your blood doesn't have plenty cherry blood cells, he says.
"That's 1 of the chief reasons why we check the donor's hemoglobin level before every donation [—] to ensure that it is high enough," says Pham. "Based [on] extensive research over a long period, the FDA has established federal guidelines around how often and how much individuals can donate blood so as not to compromise their health."
Who isn't eligible to donate blood?
Blood donors should usually exist at least 18 years former, just sixteen to 17-year-olds may donate with written consent from their parent or legal guardian. At that place is more often than not no upper age limit, merely some institutions crave a doctor's letter for donors above 75 years onetime.
"While virtually 38% of the U.s.a. population tin donate blood, others may be ineligible for a wide variety of reasons designed to protect patients who may be receiving the donated blood products or even to protect the donors themselves," says Pham.
Some factors temporarily prohibit you from altruistic blood, such as:
- Pregnancy: Pregnant individuals can't donate blood because they need additional iron during their pregnancy and because significant women tend to develop mild anemia during their pregnancy. They need to expect six months after giving birth earlier they tin can donate blood safely.
- Tattoos: If you recently had a tattoo in a state-regulated facility that used sterile needles and new ink, you tin can donate blood with no problem. Withal, if your land does non regulate tattoo facilities, you lot'll have to wait three months before altruistic blood to minimize the hazard of spreading transfusion-transmissible infections such as syphilis or HIV.
- Medications: Taking certain medications makes yous temporarily ineligible to exist a blood donor, and the waiting period after your last dose depends on the medication that y'all took. For example, you tin can simply donate blood vii days after you stopped taking blood thinners such as Coumadin or Warfilone, just you accept to expect three years after your concluding dose of Soriatane, the oral retinoid treatment for psoriasis.
- Recent travel: Visiting areas that are associated with a greater adventure for mosquito-borne infections, such as malaria, dengue, and Zika virus, may proceed you from donating blood either temporarily or permanently, depending on location.
There are enough of eligibility criteria to become a blood donor. If yous're unsure whether or non you qualify, you tin can go in touch on with a blood center nearly y'all to walk you through your eligibility.
How to donate blood safely
Prior to your blood donation, in that location are several things you accept to go along in listen, such as:
"Since donating whole blood temporarily decreases the amount of cherry blood cells, and therefore hemoglobin, in your system, it's advisable to take an fe supplement, especially after your donation, to give your body a little extra boost as it starts creating more cherry claret cells," says Pham.
Eating foods that are rich in vitamin C, such equally citrus fruits, bell peppers, strawberries, helps y'all absorb iron better.
Insider'south takeaway
You can donate i pint of blood every eight weeks, and it volition take your body 4 to 8 weeks to replace the number of red claret cells that y'all lost. You might non be allowed to donate blood depending on your medications, recent travel history, or sure wellness conditions like HIV, hepatitis B or C, or dementia.
Avoid drinking booze and eating fat foods before your blood donation. Instead, get adequate sleep, drink plenty of water, and eat foods that are rich in atomic number 26 and vitamin C to stay healthy and help your torso create more blood cells.
"Long-term donation is safety. Many blood donors donate regularly over decades without health bug. Good diet, including eating atomic number 26-rich foods, aid ensure claret levels return later on each donation," says Sachais.
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